A traumatic injury is when you’re suddenly hurt and have serious injuries like bleeding, broken bones or head injuries. Traumatic injuries are medical emergencies. If you see that someone is hurt from a fall, motor vehicle crash or other incident, call 911 or emergency services right away.
A traumatic injury is any physical injury that could cause serious medical conditions or be life-threatening. A traumatic injury could be an injury that causes you to lose a lot of blood or causes a serious head injury.
Traumatic injuries are common in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates injuries account for 40 million emergency room visits every year. You can experience a traumatic injury at home, work or simply while driving or walking.
Falls and motor vehicle crashes are the most common causes of traumatic injuries. But you can have a traumatic injury from an assault, like being shot, stabbed or hit hard with an object. Traumatic injuries are medical emergencies. If you think you or someone else may have a serious injury, call 911 or emergency services right away.
Traumatic injuries also are life-changing events. The impact of a traumatic injury can ripple through your life and the lives of the people who care for you. It takes time to recover from a traumatic injury. Your progress may be slow, so try to be patient with the process, with yourself and those around you.
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Healthcare providers classify traumatic injuries by how an injury happens and the impact it has on your body. There are three types of traumatic injuries:
In general, a major traumatic injury is when you have several life-threatening injuries in several areas of your body. Healthcare providers use a standard review process to decide if someone has major traumatic injuries. That process is the Injury Severity Score (ISS).
The ISS system helps providers make consistent treatment decisions instead of handling traumatic injuries on a case-by-case basis. For example, if you have a traumatic injury, a provider will use the score to decide if you should be admitted to the hospital or transferred to a medical trauma center. Providers assess:
To set an ISS, providers identify the three areas of your body with the most severe injuries. They use the six-point severity scale to get scores for the most serious injuries in each of the three areas. Then, they find the square of the three scores and add those figures to produce the ISS. The scores range from 3 to 75. An ISS score of 15 or above is a major traumatic injury.
Traumatic injuries may cause many different medical conditions, including:
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Symptoms vary depending on how a traumatic injury affects you. For example, you may have external bleeding if you have deep cuts after being in a motor vehicle crash. If the crash causes a compound fracture, part of a broken bone is sticking out of your skin. If you have broken ribs (flail chest), it hurts when you take a breath and you have trouble breathing.
Initial treatment involves the following steps, sometimes called the ABCDE of traumatic injury treatment. The steps are:
Providers treat the most serious medical conditions first. Often, that means a trauma surgeon will do emergency surgery to treat any life-threatening injuries or conditions.
Your treatment will depend on your specific traumatic injuries. Your trauma surgeon may work with specialists, including vascular surgeons, for injuries involving your blood vessels, orthopaedic surgeons for injuries that affect bones, and neurosurgeons for injuries that affect your brain.
Your treatment will continue throughout your recovery. For example, you may have:
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No, but you can reduce your risk of experiencing one. For example, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of traumatic injury. You can reduce your risk of being hurt in a crash by always wearing a seatbelt and never driving while you’re under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including prescription drugs that you’re taking as your healthcare provider recommends.
A traumatic injury can happen in a moment. It can take months and possibly years of ongoing medical treatment and support to recover. Apart from immediate medical care that may involve emergency surgery, you may also need follow-up care like additional surgery or other treatment. A traumatic injury may leave an emotional scar that lasts long after your physical injuries heal. If you’re struggling with the aftermath of a traumatic injury, ask a healthcare provider for help.
Last reviewed on 07/26/2024.
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Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy