The records of 163 penetrating trauma patients who required surgery in a 36-month period between 1988 and 1990 were reviewed. Those patients with head trauma were excluded. Thirty patients were identified as having: similar Injury Severity Scores (ISS), received at least 8 L of crystalloid, and received at least 4 units of packed red blood cells during the first 24 hours after admission. There were 22 (73%) survivors and 8 (27%) nonsurvivors. Charts were reviewed for a variety of variables to determine which characteristics distinguished nonsurvivors from survivors. The mean ISS was 30.5 +/- 5.5. As a group, nonsurvivors received more blood transfusions (14.9 +/- 4.9 versus 5.0 +/- 1.14), had longer durations of shock (55.6 +/- 18 minutes versus 19.3 +/- 11.7 minutes), and had lower core body temperatures (92.6 degrees F +/- 2.2 versus 95.1 degrees F +/- 2.4) than survivors. Nonsurvivors also had lower hemoglobin levels (7.84 +/- 1 versus 9.1 +/- 2.3) and platelet counts (134.2 +/- 14.1 versus 188.6 +/- 6.3) than survivors. In addition, nonsurvivors demonstrated greater incidence of three major risk factors than did the survivors: hypothermia (75% versus 41%), acidosis (100% versus 27%), and coagulopathy (62% versus 4.5%). Therapeutic measures to limit these risk factors for increased mortality may maximize the chance of survival in these patients.