TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 42. Emergency Department Thoracotomy A1 - Reichman, Eric F. Y1 - 2013 N1 - T2 - Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e AB - An increase in urban violence combined with better triage and transport systems has resulted in the arrival of sicker trauma patients at the Emergency Department (ED). Previously, these patients might not have survived long enough to make it to the ED.1 The majority of individuals with penetrating chest injuries arrive in the ED in stable condition and are managed without major operative procedures.2 A subset of individuals, however, arrive in extremis and may require a thoracotomy. The purpose of the ED thoracotomy may be to control hemorrhage within the chest, to relieve a pericardial tamponade surgically or one that cannot be decompressed by a needle thoracotomy, to redistribute cardiac output to the brain and the heart, or to provide more effective cardiac massage.3 SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/18 UR - accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57704403 ER -