Patient selection: 563 adults hospitalized with traumatic injuries from the ages of 15 to 97 years of age at a Level 1 trauma center
One or more infections occurred in 37% of patients.
Most common types of infections:
(1) pneumonia
(2) urinary tract infection
(3) surgical site infection
(4) skin and soft tissue infection
(5) intra-abdominal infection
(6) sepsis
Complications of these infections:
(1) septic shock
(2) acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
(3) multi-organ failure (MOF)
(4) death
Risk factors for infection from multivariate analysis:
(1) intubation and mechanical ventilation
(2) one or more surgical procedures
(3) transfusion of one or more units of blood, with risk increasing with multiple units
(4) spinal cord injury
(5) insertion of a central venous catheter
Protective factor reducing the risk of infection:
(1) first surgery within 24 hours of admission
