Vascular trauma in Colombia: experience of a level I trauma center in Medellín.

Trauma has become a major health problem in Colombia. The large number of trauma patients has made San Vicente de Paul Hospital of Medellín a major national referred trauma center. Under-reporting is a major problem in Colombia, as in other underdeveloped countries, because of the absence of automated information systems. Despite this and limited financial health resources, time to definitive treatment, morbidity, and mortality are similar to those of centers in developed countries. This article has covered the authors' experience with vascular injuries over a period of 5 years, representing 664 patients; the results were shown in this article. In addition, advances made in the development of new tools for the diagnosis of vascular trauma, such as helical CT angiography, were discussed.