Caring for the major trauma victim: the role for radiology

Two innovations have improved the care of the major trauma victim in the past 20 years. Both depend on active radiologist participation. The first has been the progressive nationwide development of the Emergency Medical Service System, which identifies trauma centers by a process of categorization, regionalization, and verification. The hospital must be staffed and equipped to perform computed tomography, angiography, and sonography. Trauma centers effectively reduce morbidity and mortality of the accident patient. The second innovation has been the intensive use of computed tomography (CT) for immediate patient evaluation. CT surpasses other imaging methods in examination for craniocerebral, abdominal, spinal, pelvic, and facial trauma. In craniocerebral trauma, the precise diagnosis afforded by CT reduces the fatality rate by permitting early surgical intervention. In abdominal trauma, CT examination supports nonoperative management of hemodynamically stable patients with solid organ injury. In spinal, pelvic, and facial injuries, CT provides diagnostic information not available with conventional radiography.