• Sadiye Emircan, Halil Ozgüç, Sule Akköse Aydın, Fatma Ozdemir, Ozlem Köksal, and Mehtap Bulut.
• Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital, Lefkoşa, TRNC.
• Ulus Travma Acil Cer. 2011 Jul 1;17(4):329-33.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to define the epidemiologic properties and correlation of physiological and anatomical risk factors with the mortality rate among patients with thorax trauma and to ensure early prediction of severe trauma.MethodsFiles of 371 cases were retrospectively examined. Their initial state in the emergency department was analyzed in terms of mortality development. Age, gender, trauma mechanism, systolic blood pressure and respiration type on admission, accompanying injuries, thorax pathology, trauma scores, and treatment approaches in exitus and surviving cases were compared. Survival probabilities and unexpected mortality rates were computed using the Trauma Revised Score-Injury Severity Score (TRISS).ResultsAge, hypotension, pathologic respiration, blunt injury, accompanying injury, abdominal trauma, high Injury Severity Score (ISS), and low Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and TRISS were the factors affecting mortality, and presence of blunt injuries, TRISS <85, ISS >22 and GCS <13 were found to be independent prognostic factors. The strongest factor indicating mortality was TRISS. Thirty-four of 307 cases with survival probability of over 50% died.ConclusionIn the presence of factors affecting mortality, patients with thorax trauma should be evaluated as being in a high-risk group and treatment strategies must be aggressive. Case analysis based on the TRISS model would further reveal the mistakes and may improve patient care.

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