RT Book, Section
A1 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 57704403
T1 Chapter 42. Emergency Department Thoracotomy
T2 Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-161352-1
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57704403
RD 2024/04/16
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