Biochemical quantification of blunt injuries.

During eight post-traumatic days, the blood loss and severity of trauma were correlated with the blood levels of lactate, creatinine and catecholamines in 45 patients with multiple blunt injuries. During two days these biochemical indicators correlated with the extent of thoracoabdominal, pelvic and cerebral injuries. In the critically injured patients all three parameters were elevated throughout the observation period. No correlations were observed between plasma catecholamines and lower limb injuries, which seems to make the importance of catecholamines for predicting the onset of fat embolism syndrome less useful.