Review of patients with multiple injuries treated at University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur

This study has analyzed 260 patients with multiple injuries sustained in road accidents admitted to the University Hospital during the period July 1967 to July 1976, in relation to age, sex, and ethnic distribution. The types of injuries sustained have been discussed to highlight their effects on the community in a developing country. The extremities have been most frequently involved, while head injuries followed closely. The causative factors of multiple injury-producing accidents have been evaluated. The categories of victims most liable to multiple injuries have been discussed. The significance of understanding the mechanism of these accidents and the effect of such knowledge in minimizing diagnostic errors, thus enabling management and the urgent need for regional accident services in developing countries, have been stressed.