What is Polytrauma?

Polytrauma occurs when a person experiences injuries to multiple body parts and organ systems often, but not always, as a result of blast-related events. TBI frequently occurs in polytrauma in combination with other disabling conditions, such as amputation, burns, spinal cord injury, auditory and visual damage , spinal cord injury (SCI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other medical conditions. Due to the severity and complexity of their injuries, Veterans and Service Members with polytrauma require a high level of integration and coordination of clinical care and other support services.

What causes polytrauma?

Polytrauma is when a patient has sustained multiple injuries, some of which may cause significant disability and may be life-threatening. Worldwide the most common cause of polytrauma is motor vehicle accidents; other causes include suicide and homicide attempts.

Symptoms of Polytrauma:

Polytrauma affects the body in an unpredictable manner hence it is difficult to link the symptoms to a particular body part or body system. Direct symptoms of polytrauma are pain and bleeding from the injured body part. The less obvious symptoms are having difficulty in concentration, loss of memory along with headache, continuous ringing in the ears. Other symptoms include light-headedness, irritability and impaired decision making.

Diagnosis of Polytrauma:

After a road accident, the patient should immediately undergo an X-ray to determine the level of injuries in the cervical spine, chest or pelvis (termed as trauma series). Further, a CT scan and MRI are also conducted to investigate the injuries in detail.