Post-Trauma Immunological Disruptions: A Review

Accidents and trauma are one of the world's most serious but neglected health problems. The fast moving transportation systems, unprecedented and unplanned urbanization and changing social patterns have contributed to the global increase in the incidence of trauma. Traffic accidents are an endemic disease which affects mainly the young adults in the economically productive age groups and are the leading cause of death in persons under 44 years of age. Globally, 26% of all deaths in the age group of 15-44 years are due to injuries. The national vital registration system registers around 18 million deaths annually due to injuries worldwide. In Developing countries, trauma is a major problem, due to a very high incidence of vehicular accidents, other accidental injuries, crime and violence. Rising population, urbanization, industrialization and a drastic rise in vehicular transport has contributed to an annual increase in road traffic accidents by 3% in India alone. An accident death is reported every 1.9 minutes in India; in 1997, 10.1% of all deaths in India were due to accidents and injuries. Despite of this, trauma care is still at a developmental stage in our country. Thus, there is a growing population of traumatized patients requiring highly sophisticated and specialized care. Because most of these patients are young adults, with no underlying illness, there is a great concern to save these patients.