Consensus statement on crush injury and crush syndrome

Crush syndrome remains rare in European practice. It is however common in areas of civil disorder and where the normal structures of society have given way to civil war or natural disaster. Western doctors are becoming increasingly involved in such situations and there is no reason to believe that instances due to more conventional causes, such as collapse in the elderly or road traffic accidents, will cease. For all these reasons it is important that clinicians who deal infrequently with crush syndrome have access to appropriate guidelines. This consensus report seeks to provide such advice. It reports the findings of a consensus meeting on crush injury and crush syndrome held in Birmingham on 31 May 2001, and coordinated by the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.