PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - R. Y. McMurtry
AU  - W. R. Nelson
AU  - M. R. de la Roche
TI  - Current concepts in trauma: 2. The Sunnybrook Medical Centre trauma program: the first 11 years
DP  - 1989 Sep 15
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 555--559
VI  - 141
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/141/6/555.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/141/6/555.full
SO  - CMAJ1989 Sep 15; 141
AB  - Sunnybrook Medical Centre is a tertiary care teaching hospital situated in metropolitan Toronto. Its trauma unit, opened in June 1976, serves the inhabitants of metropolitan Toronto and the surrounding area (approximately 5 million). More than 3200 patients were admitted to the unit between 1976 and 1987. The criteria for admission were age at least 14 years and an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 16 or greater, two or more significant injuries at anatomically discrete sites when the score on the Abbreviated Injury Scale was 3 or greater, or grade IV shock (systolic blood pressure of 80 mm Hg or less). The number of patients admitted annually to the unit increased over the study period. The survival rate also increased, from 76% in 1976 to 88% in 1987, although the average age and ISS of the patients remained unchanged. Less than 2% of the patients required long-term rehabilitative or chronic care. The patient profile is similar to that seen in other trauma centres in North America. The success of this program is largely the result of expeditious stabilization and transfer from referring hospitals coupled with early definitive surgical intervention.