Snapshot of trauma laparotomy deaths in Queensland

Background Trauma remains the most frequent cause of death for patients under 35 years of age. Head injury and catastrophic haemorrhage account for the majority of early deaths. A trauma laparotomy is often necessary to arrest haemorrhage. Methods All patients who died in Queensland hospitals between 2011 and 2016 having had a trauma laparotomy were identified from the Queensland Audit of Surgical Mortality. Results About 69.0% of the 84 deaths were male with a median age of 47.6 years. About 64.3% of deaths occurred within the first 2 days following trauma. Mechanism of injury was typically road traffic accident (77.4%). Sixteen patients underwent a non‐therapeutic laparotomy. Following peer‐review, different management was recommended for only three patients. Conclusion This group of patients who died in the setting of a trauma laparotomy received high quality trauma care. Ongoing education is needed as some non‐therapeutic laparotomies may be avoidable.