Over 526k Trauma Cases Treated in Luxembourg Emergency Departments in 2013-2020

On Wednesday 9 April 2025, Luxembourg’s Health Directorate and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) released a multi-year report analysing trauma and accident trends in the country, drawing on data from hospital emergency departments and mortality statistics.

The "Report on Trauma and Accident Trends in Luxembourg" provides a broad analysis of injury-related cases recorded in emergency departments and trauma-related deaths between 2013 and 2020, with the aim of improving prevention strategies and enhancing public safety measures.

According to Luxembourg’s Health Directorate and the LIH, trauma remains a top priority for public health in Luxembourg. In 2012, the Health Directorate introduced RETRACE, a comprehensive surveillance system in all four hospitals with emergency departments throughout the country. This system, modelled on the European Injury Data Base (EU-IDB), collects detailed information on the causes and circumstances of trauma cases, allowing for accurate comparisons at both national and European levels.

The report revealed that a total of 526,381 trauma cases were treated in Luxembourg’s emergency departments from 2013 to 2020. The proportion of non-residents seeking emergency trauma care increased from 10% to 15% during this period, highlighting the importance of cross-border health surveillance. Furthermore, trauma-related injuries were the fourth leading cause of death in Luxembourg between 2013 and 2019. However, in 2020, they fell to sixth place, due to the major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Health Directorate and the LIH also noted that they adopted as guidelines the eight key areas defined by the EU Injury Database (EU-IDB) to guide prevention efforts, including self-inflicted injuries, violence, road-traffic accidents, school-related incidents, sports injuries, workplace accidents, home and leisure-related injuries and cases of undefined causes.

Moreover, the analysis drew attention to age-specific risk factors, noting, for instance, that home and leisure activities-related injuries are the most common among very young children (0-4 years) and the elderly, whereas sports-related injuries are more frequent among adolescents and young adults.

A notable trend identified in the report is the decrease in trauma-related emergency room visits in 2020 for most age groups, except for the elderly. While trauma cases among children and young adults fell by 8.8% and 28.3% respectively, trauma incidents among seniors increased by 4.4%, “likely reflecting the unique risks faced by older adults during the pandemic.”

The Registries & Epidemiological Studies (RES) Unit at the LIH is reported to have played a key role in producing this report, serving as the operational manager of the project mandated by the Health Directorate.

Marie Louyot, Project Leader in Epidemiology in the RES Unit at the LIH, concluded: “This report offers a valuable perspective on the constantly changing nature of trauma in Luxembourg. By understanding these trends, we can implement targeted interventions that help protect those most at risk.”

IK