Analysis of management of patients with multiple injuries of the locomotor system.

Body injuries are very serious problems in industrialised countries and they are frequent causes of fatalities in our times. The variety and multiple combinations of body injuries are a challenge for the trauma team. On the basis of clinical and radiological documentation 315 patients with multiple injuries of the locomotor system (MILS) were included in the study. The criterion for inclusion of the patients into the study group was identification of MILS. The study showed that these injuries often involve young people (53%) (predominantly men) aged between 16 and 45 years. Road accidents were the most frequent cause of injuries -80.6%. MILS affected the lower limb in 49.,4%, upper limb in 33.2% and pelvis in 14.1%; 75% of the patients studied also suffered from concomitant injuries. The head and brain were involved in 92.9%, chest in 31.5% and abdomen in 21.3%. The mortality index for the population studied was 14%. An increasing value of the Injury Severity Score (ISS) or New Injury Severity Score (NISS) caused delay in surgical management of bone injuries and correlated with prolonged hospitalisation. Analysis emphasised the usefulness of the NISS as a valuable prognostic instrument in assessment of severity of injuries in patients with multiple injuries of the locomotor system.