Recognizing, Scoring, and Predicting Blast InjuriesRID="" ID="" This International Association for the Surgery of Traumaand Surgical Intensive Care (IATSIC) article was presented at the 37thWorld Congress of Surgery International Surgical Week (ISW97),Acapulco, Mexico, August 24n30, 1997.

n = 665, 51%) had an ISS ranging from 0 to 34 (mean 13) had wounds ranging from G1ST (soft tissue wounds caused by low energy transfer) to G3VF (massive wounds with fractures and injury of vital structures) according to the RCWC, with PSS/IS scores from 2 to 105 (mean 60). Statistically significant correlation was found between ISS and PSS/IS as well as RCWC and PSS/IS. Cytokines (IL-1, TNF alpha ) and amino acids responded to a blast injury in similar manner as to gunshot wounds with a greater ISS or more severe RCWC injury type. The subjective sensations in blasted patients (deafness, thoracic pain, vertigo) and mediators, confirmed in previous experimental investigations as important factors in the pathogenesis of blast injuries (TxA 2 , sulfidopeptide leukotrienes) were relationed only to the PSS/IS.RID="" ID="" Correspondence to: I. Cernak, M.D., Ph.D.