CHICAGO—The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has announced the release of the 2004 Annual Report from its National Trauma Data BankTM (NTDBTM). The release of the 2004 report, Version 4.0, represents the fourth consecutive release of the report and is an updated analysis of the largest aggregation of trauma registry data that has ever been assembled. The NTDB now con-tains over 1.1 million records from 405 trauma centers in 43 states, territories, and the District of Columbia. In addition to surpassing the one million record mark, this amount of data represents an increase of 394,414 records from the 2003 report. Moreover, the American College of Surgeons is now utilizing NTDB data to work with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on a project to develop a national minimum trauma care data set. In addition, the two groups are developing a national sample that will allow trauma researchers to make inferences about a trauma population when using NTDB data for analyses.

Key findings in the 2004 NTDB Report include:

• The largest number of trauma-related deaths are caused by motor vehicle traffic related-injuries, followed by firearm injuries, and falls.
• Motor vehicle-related injuries make up 48.5 percent of cases in the data bank, with a dramatic rise in such injuries beginning at age 14 and peaking around age 19.
• Injuries involving firearms, which account for 5.4 percent of cases in the data bank, peak at age19—earlier than motor vehicle traffic-related injuries—and then steadily decrease after age 21.
• Falls account for 16.7 percent of cases reported to the NTDB, with the incidence of falls peaking around 82 years of age.
• Up to age 70, men make up the majority of trauma patients; however, after age 70 most patients treated for traumatic injury are women.
• Self-pay is the largest single payment category (20.59 percent), followed by managed care (14.3 percent), and Medicare (13.48 percent).

The report was created to inform the medical community, the public, and decision makers about a wide variety of issues that characterize the current state of care for injured persons in our country. In addition to providing information about what types of traumatic injuries result in the most fatalities, the report also examines traumatic injury variations by age and gender, as well as hospital length of stay related to the mechanism of injury and source-of-payment issues. This year's report, released at the start of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma's 2004 Annual Meeting, on September 29, 2004, confirmed that injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents still account for the majority of traumatic injuries treated in US trauma centers.

The NTDB is committed to being the non-proprietary national repository for trauma center registry data. It is estimated that, of ACS-verified trauma centers, 55 percent of Level I and 37 per-cent of Level II centers in the United States contribute data to the NTDB. The goal is to receive data on every patient treated in every trauma center in the United States in an effort to improve the care of the injured patient through a range of care from initial treatment through rehabilitation and injury prevention efforts.

The entire National Trauma Data Bank Report Version 4.0 is now available on the ACS Web site in both PDF and PowerPoint formats at http://www.ntdb.org (.)

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 66,000 members, and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

Online October 6, 2004

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by the American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 60611-3211