Table 2.

Futile or potentially inappropriate treatment in the 101 patients

N=
Futile	Physiological stabilization in the emergency room (ER) not possible	8
	Early recognition of futility (within the time frame of primary, secondary and tertiary trauma survey but after the ER)	42
	Later recognition of futility. Physiological goals could not be accomplished. Deteriorating, e.g., refractory intracranial pressure occurred after a transient initial stabilization.	9
Potentially inappropriate	Treatment started, but it might not be possible to accomplish improvement or stabilization. An effect might be accomplished but may not be wanted.	42