title: Traumatic deaths at hospital: analysis of preventability and lessons learned.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to characterize traumatic deaths of major trauma patients occurring in a university trauma centre and to assess retrospectively the quality of given care by evaluating whether any of the deaths could be identified as potentially preventable.
  
  
  METHODS
  All consecutive deaths of trauma patients between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2008 in the Töölö Hospital Trauma Centre were retrospectively reviewed. The inclusion criterion was death of a trauma patient occurring during stay at hospital. Patients aged >65 years with an isolated proximal femoral fracture, burn patients, patients with isolated limb fracture other than femoral or tibial shaft fracture, and patients with isolated traumatic brain injuries were excluded as well as patients admitted more than 24 h after injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 130 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The autopsy reports were obtained for 103 of the cases (80.4 %). The majority of the patients were male, and the median age was 58 years (range 1-95 years). Blunt trauma was the most common type of injury. The most common injury mechanisms were fall from a higher level (31 %), fall from the level of the patient (21 %), and motor vehicle accident (17 %). Of the injuries not diagnosed before autopsy, the most common were liver lacerations, rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, sternum fractures, and blunt cardiac injuries. In our study population 12.5 % of the cases were considered potentially preventable. The reasons for preventability were inadequate treatment of coagulopathy, overuse of opioid medication, and loss of airway as well as failing to treat impending pneumonia and DVT. Trauma resuscitation was inadequate in 7.8 % of the cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most common error made was not recognising and treating traumatic coagulopathy adequately.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. sari.vahaaho@hus.fi.|Department of Surgery, Jorvi Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Turuntie 150, Espoo, P.O. Box 800, 00029, HUS, Finland. sari.vahaaho@hus.fi.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vähäaho
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Söderlund
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tulikoura
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reitala
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niemelä
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Handolin
keywords: Coagulopathy; Emergency room; Trauma; Trauma patients
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