Abstract

PURPOSE
To develop an inclusive and sustainable trauma system as the assessment of burden of injuries is very much important. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the estimates and characteristics of abdominal traumatic injuries.
METHODS
The data were extracted from the National Emergency Department Information System. Based on Korean Standard Classification for Disease 6th version, which is the Korean version of International Classification of Disease 10th revision, abdominal injuries were identified and abdominal surgeries were evaluated with electronic data interchange codes. Demographic factors, numbers of surgeries and clinical outcomes were also investigated.
RESULTS
From 2011 to 2014, about 24,696 patients with abdominal trauma were admitted to the hospitals annually in South Korea. The number of patients who were admitted to regional and local emergency medical centers was 8,622 (34.91%) and 15,564(63.02%), respectively. Based on National Emergency Department Information System, liver was identified as the most commonly injured abdominal solid organ (39.50%, 9,754/24,696, followed by spleen (17.57%, 4,338/24,696) and kidney (12.94%, 3,195/24,696).
CONCLUSION
This study shows that the demand for abdominal trauma care is considerable in South Korea and most of the patients with abdominal trauma were admitted to regional or local emergency centers. The results of this study can be used as good source of information for staffs to ensure proper delivery of abdominal trauma care in trauma centers nationally.

• Keywords: TraumaAbdomenLiverSpleenKidney