BACKGROUND Helicopters have become a major part of the modern trauma care system and are frequently used to transport patients from the scene of their injury to a trauma center. While early studies reported decreased mortality for trauma patients transported by helicopters when compared with those transported by ground ambulances, more recent research has questioned the benefit of helicopter tr...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the long-term consequences of severe injuries in terms of return to productivity and quality of life. METHODS In this study we focused on the return to work status and quality of life in 53 severely injured patients (AIS/ISS > or = 16, mean ISS 24, range 16 - 54), mean age 37 years, one to two years after the injury. Questions were asked concerning employment ...

BACKGROUND We sought to identify the role of pre-injury socio-demographic and health characteristics, and injury severity in determining health-related quality-of-life outcomes for mild to moderate injuries 2 months after a motor vehicle crash in a compensable setting. METHODS People aged 17 years and older, injured with a New Injury Severity Score of 8 or less, in a motor vehicle crash in Ne...

HYPOTHESIS Multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) within 48 hours of injury is a reversible physiologic response to tissue injury and resuscitation. DESIGN A prospective 10-year inception cohort study ending September 2003. SETTING Regional academic level I trauma center. PATIENTS One thousand two hundred seventy-seven consecutive trauma patients at risk for postinjury multiple organ failure (M...

OBJECTIVES To determine the relationship between emergent intubation (emergency department and field intubation cases combined) and mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury while controlling for injury severity. METHODS Retrospective observational study of 981 (35.2% intubated, 64.8% not intubated) patients with TBI evaluating the association between intubation status and mortality. ...