Lifesaving and Emergency Surgical Procedures in Trauma Patients

Damage control surgery represents a salvage procedure for trauma patients with the life-threatening triad of hypothermia, acidosis, and coagulopathy. Although nonoperative management has become the norm for many solid visceral injuries and some vascular injuries, surgical therapy for penetrating and blunt abdominal trauma remains an essential part of the overall management. The early management of trauma patients depends on the presence (or absence) of significant bleeding. Hemodynamically stable patients can undergo standard definitive surgical procedures, but patients in hemorrhagic shock should be treated according to damage control resuscitation principles, which can provide early hemorrhage control. We have attempted in this chapter to describe some essential lifesaving surgical procedures that can be used to gain access to the airway and control hemorrhage within the thoracic and abdominal cavities as well as the retroperitoneum and pelvis.