[Combined thoraco-abdominal injuries. Diagnosis, therapy, treatment results].

81 patients with combined thoraco-abdominal lesions had at the same time craniocerebral lesions (54 cases) and (in 70 cases) injuries of the locomotor system. These 64 men and 17 women had an average age of 44.8 years. In 72.9% surgical intervention was necessary in the regions of the thorax and abdomen at the same time, whereas in 18.5% of the cases surgery was required either at the thorax or at the abdomen only. Only 8.6% of the patients could be treated conservatively. 42 patients died (51.9%), two-thirds of these from direct organ lesion and one-third from an indirect organ lesion. The most frequent cause of death was craniocerebral trauma, ranking before thoracic and abdominal trauma.