Retrospective analysis of traffic accidents related injuries in a tourism region

Abstract

Background: The number of applications to the emergency service after a traffic accident is quite high. In this study it is aimed to provide up to date data to the literature by making a detailed analysis of the patients who applied to the emergency department after an accident. Methods: This study was carried out by retrospectively scanning the patients who applied to the emergency department between 01.01.2022 and 31.12.2022 after a traffic accident in a secondary level hospital through the hospital electronic data. The patient’s admission date and time, age, gender, accident mechanisms, being a vehicle driver and ethanol positivity above the legal limit in the driver, as well as laboratory and imaging methods performed in the emergency department were examined. The injuries and outcomes seen in the patients were analyzed. Results: 1596 patients were evaluated within the scope of the study. The mean age of the patients was 32.93±19.26 years old and 66.7% were male. Among the accident mechanisms, 71.1% were found to be in vehicle traffic accidents. Head and neck tomography and extremity imaging were performed most frequently in the patients. Soft tissue trauma and extremity fractures were the most common cases. The discharge rate was 89.2%. It was concluded that hospitalized cases were most frequently made in neurosurgery, orthopedics and thoracic surgery clinics. Conclusions: The fact that vehicle drivers are drunk increases the risk of traffic accidents. The most common cause of fatal traffic accidents is cerebral hemorrhage. Increasing the safety measures that can be taken to prevent traffic accidents will reduce morbidity and mortality.