subject: Accident Injury [print this page] Injury refers to "a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident. Injury is also called as the Trauma." It can also be describes as "a physical wound or injury, such as a fracture or blow." Major trauma can result in secondary complications such as circulatory shock, respiratory failure and death. Resuscitation of a trauma patient often involves multiple management procedures. Trauma is the sixth leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 10% of all mortality, and is a serious public health problem with significant social and economic costs.
There would be different types of the accident trauma
* Polytrauma
Polytrauma or multiple traumas is a medical term describing the condition of a person who has been subjected to multiple traumatic injuries, such as a serious head injury in addition to a serious burn. It is defined via an Injury Severity Score ISS >=17. The term has become common among US military doctors in describing the seriously injured soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)
* Head injury
Head injury refers to trauma to the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain.[1] However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in the medical literature.
Head injuries include both injuries to the brain and those to other parts of the head, such as the scalp and skull.
Head injuries may be closed or open. A closed (non-missile) head injury is one in which the skull is not broken. A penetrating head injury occurs when an object pierces the skull and breaches the durra mater. Brain injuries may be diffuse, occurring over a wide area, or focal, located in a small, specific area.
A head injury may cause a minor headache skull fracture, which may or may not be associated with injury to the brain. Some patients may have linear or depressed skull fractures. If intracranial hemorrhage occurs, a hematoma within the skull can put pressure on the brain. Types of intracranial hemorrage include subdural, subarachnoid, extradural, and intraparenchymal hematoma. Craniotomy surgeries are used in these cases to lessen the pressure by draining off blood.
* Chest trauma
Chest trauma (or thoracic trauma) is a serious injury of the chest. Thoracic trauma is a common cause of significant disability and mortality, the leading cause of death from physical trauma after head and spinal cord injury. Blunt thoracic injuries are the primary or a contributing cause of about a quarter of all trauma-related deaths. The mortality rate is about 10%. Chest injuries were first described in detail in around 1600 BC in the ancient Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus.
* Abdominal trauma
Abdominal trauma is an injury to the abdomen. It may be blunt or penetrating and may involve damage to the abdominal organs. Signs and symptoms include abdominal pain, tenderness, rigidity, and bruising of the external abdomen. Abdominal trauma presents a risk of severe blood loss and infection. Diagnosis may involve ultrasonography, computed tomography, and peritoneal lavage, and treatment may involve surgery. Injury to the lower chest may cause splenic or liver injuries.
Vehicle accidents are a common cause of blunt abdominal trauma. Seat belts reduce the incidence of injuries such as head injury and chest injury, but present a threat to such abdominal organs as the pancreas and the intestines, which may be compressed against the spinal column. Children are especially vulnerable to abdominal injury from seat belts, because they have softer abdominal regions and seat belts were not designed to fit them. In children, bicycle accidents are also a common cause of abdominal injury, especially when the abdomen strikes the handlebars. Sports injuries can affect abdominal organs such as the spleen and kidneys. Falls and sports are also frequent mechanisms of abdominal injury in children. Abdominal injury can also result from child abuse and is the second leading cause of child abuse-related death, after traumatic brain injury.
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by: Manish Sing
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