Fatal outcome after polytrauma: multiple organ failure or cerebral damage?

To assess the relative importance of multiple organ failure (MOF) and cerebral damage on the mortality rate following trauma we analyzed retrospectively the records from 99 polytrauma patients admitted to a multidisciplinary European intensive care unit in a 2 year period. In all, 93% of the trauma was non-penetrating and 73% was the result of road accidents. 28 patients died giving an overall mortality of 28.3%. The cause of death was cerebral lesions in 19 patients, hemorrhagic shock in eight and multiple organ failure in one patient who had an injury severity score (ISS) of 13. Most deaths (78%) occurred within 24 h of admission, 15 of these were due to extensive cerebral lesions and seven due to hemorrhagic shock. A total of six deaths occurred after 24 h, four due to extensive cerebral lesions, one due to hemorrhagic shock and one due to multiple organ failure. In our experience, cerebral damage was a more common cause of death than MOF following multiple non-penetrating trauma.