[Experience of treatment for blunt traumatic out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest patients over 24 years: head injury v.s. non-head injury].
OBJECTIVE
We investigated blunt traumatic out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest patients whether any clinical differences between with and without head injury existed or not.


METHODS
A retrospective chart review of 332 blunt traumatic out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest cases that had been transported to our hospital between January 1980 and April 2003. They were divided into two groups, head injury (HI, n = 175) and non-head injury (NHI, n = 157).


RESULTS
There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to sex, age, mechanism of injury, witnessed arrest, bystander cardiopulmonary arrest, value of hemoglobin, value of base excess, and electrocardiogram on arrival. Averaged total abbreviated injury scale in the HI was greater than in the NHI, however return of spontaneous circulation in the HI was more frequent than in the NHI. Survival discharge rate was under 2% and good recovery case was none in the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Among lethal blunt traumatic injuries, there were no different backgrounds between with and without head injury. The return of spontaneous circulation in the blunt traumatic patients with head injury became higher than without head injury, however the outcomes were similarly extremely poor.
Yanagawa
Youichi
Y
Department of Traumatology and Critical Care Medicine, National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa-city, Saitama 359-8513, Japan. yanagawa@me.ndmc.ac.jp
Saitoh
Daizoh
D
Takasu
Akira
A
Kaneko
Naoyuki
N
Sakamoto
Toshihisa
T
Okada
Yoshiaki
Y
D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D005260:Female; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology