Epidemiology of trauma in Minnesota.

Injury accounts for more than 2,500 deaths and 300,000 hospital admissions in Minnesota each year. Using the 2002 Minnesota hospital discharge database, we examined the subset of hospital-treated injuries that received trauma care and categorized claims into trauma-related deaths, cases of nonfatal major trauma, and other cases that received specialized trauma care. We also examined where trauma patients received their care, the leading diagnoses for trauma deaths and nonfatal major trauma, and whether a statewide trauma system that would identify and equip more hospitals as trauma centers would have significant potential for improving trauma care in Minnesota.