title: Road traffic accidents as a major contributor to neurosurgical mortality in adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the contribution of Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) to neurosurgical mortality in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a descriptive study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was carried out at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad. from June, 1998 to June, 2002. PATIENTS AND METHODS The clinical records including radiological records and death certificates were studied. Absolute and relative frequencies of neurosurgical mortality were noted. Mean age and male to female ratio of the patients who died due to RTAs were also determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 315 post-traumatic deaths. RTAs contributed to 281 deaths while head injury was the cause of death in 268 patients. A significant number of patients died below the age of 40 years (63%) and male to female ratio was 6.8:1 secondary to RTAs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RTAs are a major contributor to neurosurgical mortality especially in adults. RTAs are one of the preventable causes of neurosurgical deaths.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Ehtesham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghani
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nadeem
authors.forename: Atia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bano
authors.forename: Sidra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Irshad
authors.forename: Ghalib Imam
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.lastname: Khaleeq-uz-Zaman
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000379:methods; D010154:Pakistan; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution