Trauma has assumed a prominent role in contemporary medicine as an event that can significantly influence clinical variables such as morbidity, functional deficits and consequential disability, and mortality. Trauma is the principal cause of death in the population below 40 years of age in industrialized countries. Therefore, there is great interest in studying traumatic events from both the clinical and epidemiological viewpoints. The importance of trauma is exemplified by the fact that in many countries, the trauma patient is first treated in specialized trauma centers in which the diagnostic and treatment processes are facilitated by the 24 hour presence of personnel having interdisciplinary competences.
