Muthukumar et al reviewed the lethal triad of trauma care for a patient with a severe burn. The authors are from VM Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
Patient selection: severe burn injury
Lethal triad in a trauma patient:
(1) hypothermia
(2) acidosis
(3) coagulopathy
The presence of the lethal triad on admission:
(1) had a relative risk of mortality of 3.9 (ratio of mortality with and without triad).
(2) was associated with a mortality rate of 69% vs 18% for those without
The relative risk for each component:
(1) hypothermia: 4.3
(2) acidosis: 10.4
(3) coagulopathy: 4.9
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