Fatal trauma: a five year review in a Dublin hospital

The autopsy reports and clinical data of 96 patients presenting to St. James's Hospital with trauma of fatal outcome, between January 1, 1986 and December 31, 1990, were analysed. Eighty-one (84%) deaths were due to road traffic accidents and all were the result of blunt trauma. Ninety-five (99%) had an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score > or = 3 in at least one anatomical category. Cerebral trauma (41%) and shock and haemorrhage secondary to multiple injuries (40%) were the commonest causes of death. Sixty-eight (71%) patients were dead on arrival at the hospital. Of the twenty-eight deaths occurring after admission to hospital nine (32%) were potentially preventable. The mean (sem) Injury Severity Score (ISS) for those with preventable deaths was 24.1 (3.8). These data have implications for the development of trauma care facilities in Ireland.