Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
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Background: In the last decades, a reduction in mortality in severely injured patients with an ISS ≥ 16 could be observed. Some authors report a death rate of about 22 %. Moreover, there were some new insights in the last years such as the reduction in mortality by use of whole-body CT and the introduction of the S3 guideline of the German Society of Trauma Surgery "Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple Injuries" have supported the evidence-based treatment of severely injured patients. ⋯ The higher rate in comparison to published data is most likely explained by the high rate of serious and severe head injuries. The increased use of whole-body CT and the introduction of the S3 guideline led to a significant decrease in mortality in the authors' patient population. This is due particularly to the accelerating of the treatment of severely injured patients, the reduction of the infused volume, shortened surgical phase within the first 24 hours and the increased use of whole-body CT.