Use of the Abbreviated Injury Scale in a Hospital Emergency Room:Potential for Research in Accident Epidemiology

Trauma, which accounts for a substantial part of the morbidity and mortality in industrial nations, is a natural area of interest for orthopaedic surgeons. Trauma, and trauma prevention, can be conveniently studied in emergency rooms and casualty units which are often run by hospital orthopaedic departments. In order to identify the most serious types of accidents and assign priorities as regards preventive measures it is necessary to be able to determine in an objective way the severity of different types of trauma. The Abbreviated Injury Scale is a system developed in the United States for ranking the severity of specific trauma lesions. This paper discusses general issues relating to injury scaling and accident epidemiology research.