A comparative study of the injury patterns and inflammatory response between suicidal and unintentional falls from height in Germany

Patients who had attempted suicide by jumping suffered more severe injuries and had a significantly higher ISS than those in the group who had fallen unintentionally. This remained true even when fall height was considered. Suicidal patients exhibited a higher complication rate (p = 0.011), increased overall transfusion requirements, impaired coagulation status upon admission and a greater number of operations (including repeat operations) compared to the unintentional fall cohort. Our data suggest that these patients require more resources and are more challenging to treat. We therefore recommend that they be treated in level 1 trauma centres with interdisciplinary intensive care capacities.