Symposium on trauma. 1. Resuscitation priorities and assessment of the patient with multiple injuries.

A system for the assessment of patients with multiple injuries is presented in which the torso is divided into three regions: (a) the great vessels, heart and esophagus, (b) the intrathoracic abdomen and (c) the pelvis and retroperitoneal space. The three areas of abdominal injury were subdivided into individual organs likely to be the site of serious injury. This system has been of great value in arousing suspicion of injury to specific organs that might otherwise have remained hidden.