7/31/2019 Trauma Surgery

1/2

Trauma surgery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to:navigation,search

This article does notciteanyreferences or sources. Please helpimprove thisarticleby adding citations toreliable sources. Unsourced material may be

challengedandremoved.(June 2009)

Trauma surgery is asurgicalspecialtyinvolved in the invasive treatment of physical

injuries, typically in an emergency setting. Trauma surgeons generally completeresidency

training in general surgery and often fellowship training in trauma or surgicalcritical care.

The trauma surgeon is responsible for the initial resuscitation and stabilization of the patient,

as well as ongoing evaluation and management. The attending trauma surgeon also leads the

trauma team, which typically includes nurses and support staff as well as resident physicians

in teaching hospitals.

Contents

[hide]

1 Training 2 Responsibilities 3 General Surgery 4 External links

[edit] Training

In theUnited States(U.S.), the majority[citation needed]

of trauma surgeons practice in larger

centers and complete a 1-2 year fellowship in surgical critical care. This allows them to sit for

theAmerican Board of Surgery(ABS) certifying examination in Surgical Critical Care. This

is generally considered the board certification for "trauma surgery".

In Europe training programs usually take place under supervision of the national surgical

boards, who also certify for subspecialism as trauma surgery. There is also an officialEuropean trauma surgical exam.

Training for trauma surgeons is sometimes difficult to obtain. In theUnited Kingdom, the

Royal College of Surgeons of Englandis responsible for training consultants via the

Definitive Surgical Trauma Skillscourse (DSTS). It remains the only course of its kind in the

United Kingdom. Originally designed to teach the military, the course now trains both

military as well as civilian surgeons.

[edit] Responsibilities

The broad scope of their surgical critical care training enables the trauma surgeon to address

most injuries to the neck, chest, abdomen, and extremities. In large parts of Europe trauma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#mw-headhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#mw-headhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#mw-headhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#p-searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#p-searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#p-searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive-care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive-care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive-care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#Traininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#Traininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#Responsibilitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#Responsibilitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#General_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#General_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitive_Surgical_Trauma_Skillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitive_Surgical_Trauma_Skillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitive_Surgical_Trauma_Skillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#General_Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#Responsibilitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#Traininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive-care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#p-searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery#mw-head

7/31/2019 Trauma Surgery

2/2

surgeons treat most of the musculoskeletal trauma. Whereas injuries to the central nervous

system are generally treated byneurosurgeons. In the US and Britain skeletal injuries are

treated by trauma orthopedic surgeons. Facial injuries are often treated bymaxillofacial

surgeons. There is significant variation across hospitals in the degree to which other

specialists, such ascardiothoracic surgeons,plastic surgeons,vascular surgeons, and

interventional radiologistsare involved in treating trauma patients.

Trauma surgeons must be familiar with a large variety of general surgical,thoracic, and

vascularprocedures and must be able to make complex decisions, often with little time and

incomplete information. Proficiency in all aspects ofintensive care medicine/critical care is

required. Hours are irregular and there is a considerable amount of night, weekend, and

holiday work. Salaries for trauma surgeons are comparable to that of general surgeons.

Most patients presenting to trauma centers have multiple injuries involving different organ

systems, and so the care of such patients often requires a significant number of diagnostic

studies and operative procedures. The trauma surgeon is responsible for prioritizing such

procedures and for designing the overall treatment plan. This process starts as soon as thepatient arrives in the emergency department and continues to the operating room, intensive

care unit, and hospital floor. In most settings, patients are evaluated according to a set of

predetermined protocols (triage) designed to detect and treat life-threatening conditions as

soon as possible. After such conditions have been addressed (or ruled out), non-life-

threatening injuries are addressed.

[edit] General Surgery

Over the last few decades, a large number of advances in trauma and critical care have led to

an increasing frequency of non-operative care for injuries to the neck, chest, and abdomen.Most injuries requiring operative treatment are musculoskeletal. For this reason, part of US

trauma surgeons devote at least some of their practice togeneral surgery. In most American

university hospitals and medical centers, a significant portion of the emergency general

surgery calls are taken by trauma surgeons. The field combining trauma surgery and

emergency general surgery is often called acute care surgery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurosurgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurosurgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurosurgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxillofacialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxillofacialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxillofacialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiothoracic_surgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiothoracic_surgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiothoracic_surgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interventional_radiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interventional_radiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_thoraxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_thoraxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_thoraxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_surgeryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma_surgery&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_care_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_thoraxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interventional_radiologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgeonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiothoracic_surgeonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxillofacialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurosurgeons