Complications of Vehicular-Related Injuries: A Scoping Review of Literature

Complications of vehicular-related trauma contribute to the overall morbidity, and ultimately the costs, of road accidents. However, direct evidence on the burden of complications of vehicular-related trauma injuries is not directly explored. This scoping review aims to provide a summary of the relevant literature on the most significant acute complications and consequences of trauma caused by motor vehicle accidents or similar mechanisms. Multiple electronic databases, as well as grey literature, were explored. Studies were included in this scoping review if they evaluated adult patients with acute complications of traumatic injury caused by motor vehicle trauma or similar mechanisms. Trauma-related complications contribute to increasing mortality of patients. Complications of traumatic injuries are also the main cause of patients’ readmission to hospitals. Various studies report the rate of high-grade complications around 10%, but the overall rate of complications, ignoring severity, is approximately 60%. Depending on the surveyed population, different complications are identified as the most prevalent, but pneumonia is identified as the most prevalent complication in the majority of studies. The most important factors predicting the occurrence of complications in trauma patients are older age and poor Glasgow coma scale. Complications of trauma-related injuries are significant factors affecting the outcome of patients. There has been limited research directly exploring this topic, possibly due to the difficulty of undertaking such studies. A particularly important research topic is the prevention and management of complications in elderly trauma patients with comorbidities. In conclusion, complications of trauma related injuries are significant considerations for clinical practice and research.