• Ali Karakuş, Zeynep Kekeç, Ramazan Akçan, and Gülşah Seydaoğlu.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Hatay, Turkey. drkarakus@yahoo.com
• Ulus Travma Acil Cer. 2012 Jul 1;18(4):289-95.

BackgroundIn this study, we aimed to determine the effects of trauma severity on cardiac involvement through evaluating the trauma severity score together with diagnostic tests in multiple trauma patients. A trauma score was determined using various trauma severity scales.MethodsAfter obtaining the approval of the ethics committee of the faculty, this prospective study was performed through evaluating 100 multiple trauma patients, aged over 15 years, who applied to our Emergency Department (ED). After determining the trauma severity score using instruments such as the Injury Severity Score (ISS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and Revised Trauma Score (RTS), the cardiac condition was evaluated using biochemical and radiological diagnostic tests.ResultsDuring the study period, 100 patients were evaluated (78 male, 22 female; mean age: 33.2±15.4; range 15 to 70 years). It was determined that 92 (92%) were blunt trauma cases, and 77 (77%) of them were due to traffic accidents. The majority of cases showed electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities (63%) and sinus tachycardia (36%). Abnormal echocardiogram (ECHO) findings, mostly accompanied by ventricular defects (n=24), were determined in 31 of the cases. Nineteen cases with high trauma severity score resulted in death, and 14 of all deaths were secondary to traffic accidents. Trauma scores were found to show a significant difference between the two groups.ConclusionThe ISS trauma scale was determined to be the most effective in terms of indicating heart involvement in patients with multiple traumas. Close follow-up and cardiac monitoring should be applied to patients with high trauma severity scores considering possible cardiac rhythm changes and hemodynamic disturbances due to cardiac involvement.

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