[Rehabilitation of severely injured patients in acute care hospitals: who is doing what? A nationwide survey in the Trauma Network DGU].

BACKGROUND: During the treatment of severely injured patients, rehabilitation takes an important role. In this study we examined the present structures in acute care hospitals, which influence the process of rehabiliation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data was captured in a questionnaire. The questions deal with the personal and structural situation of acute care hospitals in Germany. The questionnaires were sent to all clinics, which are registered in the TraumaNetwork DGU.
RESULTS: 424 hospitals answered the questionnaire. This is a response rate of 57.3% regarding 740 acitve clinics in the TraumaNetwork DGU. 58% have no opportunity for rehabilitation. The majority of the hospitals have a physiotherapy, (98.6%) or an occupational therapy (71.0%); 33.3% have a case management. Only 17.0% of the hospitals have rehabilitation teams which take care during the hospital stay. These teams consist mainly of internal rehabilitation physicians and physical therapists. Supraregional Trauma Center have better organized structures, as hospitals with lower level of care. Only 56.6% of all hospitals reported that they were familiar with the cooperating rehabilitation hospitals. There are special cooperations with rehabilita­tion hospitals in 34.4% of all cases.
CONCLUSION: The early mobilisation of severely injured patients is an integral part of the postoperative course in German hospitals. While on the one hand a large number of hospitals have good structural conditions on the other hand these structures are little integrated in the daily treamtment. There are major gaps and uncertainties in the cooperation between acute care clincs and rehabilitation hospitals. The integra­tion of rehabilitation hospitals in the TraumaNetwork DGU could be a good chance to improve this collaboration. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.