Surgical infections
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Surgical infections · Apr 2006
Factors associated with mortality in critically injured trauma patients who require simultaneous cultures.
In trauma patients surviving their initial injuries, infectious complications and multiple organ failure represent the major causes of death after the first 72 hours. Critically injured trauma patients frequently have bacteria recoverable simultaneously from multiple culture sites; the clinical significance of this event is unknown. The objective of this study was to identify the association between growth patterns of multiple site cultures and mortality among critically injured trauma patients. ⋯ In this group of patients, growth of bacteria in simultaneous cultures was associated with higher mortality-a factor that may be considered a poor prognostic indicator. This factor requires further studies to explore the relation with survival in critically injured patients.