RT Book, Section A1 Banh, Kenny A2 Reichman, Eric F. SR Print(0) ID 1159797420 T1 Emergency Department Thoracotomy T2 Reichman's Emergency Medicine Procedures, 3e YR 2018 FD 2018 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259861925 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159797420 RD 2024/03/28 AB An increase in urban violence combined with better prehospital and transport systems has resulted in the arrival of sicker trauma patients to 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 at 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 or below, to relieve a pericardial tamponade, to redistribute cardiac output to the brain and the heart, or to provide more effective cardiac massage.3