The Importance of the Trauma Surgeon: A Reflection on the Management of Hemodynamically Unstable Pelvic Trauma Patients

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Pelvic trauma is a serious skeletal injury with high mortality. Especially in cases of severe injury trauma, treatment outcomes depend on early diagnosis and intervention. We expect trauma surgeon to play an important role in the management of severe multiple trauma patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on pelvic trauma patients with hemodynamic instability between March 2005 and September 2009. We divided the time period into period I (March 2005~Feburary 2009) and period II (March 2009~September 2009). The trauma surgeon and team started to work from period II. Data were collected regarding demographic characteristics, mechanism of injury, type of pelvic fracture, ISS (injury severity score), treatment modality, transfusion requirement, time to definitive treatment, and mortality. RESULTS: During period I, among 7 hemodynamically unstable patients, 4(57.1%) patients died. However during Period II, only one of 6(16.6%) patients died. The demographic data and injury scores showed no differences between the two time periods, but the time to definitive treatment was very short with trauma team intervention( 14.4 hrs vs. 3.9 hrs). Also, the amount of transfusion was less(41.1 U vs. 13.9 U). With arterial embolization, early pelvic external fixation led to less transfusion and made patients more stable. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the importance of the trauma surgeon and the trauma team in cases of hemodynamically unstable pelvic trauma. Even with the same facility and resources, an active trauma team approach can increase the survival of severely injured multiple trauma patients.