FATAL TRAUMA - A 5-YEAR REVIEW IN A DUBLIN HOSPITAL

The autopsy reports and clinical data of 96 patients presenting to St. James's Hospital with trauma of fatal outcome, between January 1, 198 6 and December 31,1990, were analysed. Eightyone (84 %) deaths were du e to road traffic accidents and all were the result of blunt trauma. N inety-rive (99 %) had an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score greater- than-or-equal-to 3 in at least one anatomical category. Cerebral traum a (41 %) and shock and haemorrhage secondary to multiple injuries (40 %) were the commonest causes of death. Sixty-eight (71 %) patients wer e dead on arrival at the hospital. Of the twenty-eight deaths occurrin g after admission to hospital nine (32 %) were potentially preventable . The mean (sem) Injury Severity Score (ISS) for those with preventabl e deaths was 24.1 (3.8). These data have implications for the developm ent of trauma care facilities in Ireland.