Anesthesia for Trauma Patients.

An improved understanding of the pathophysiology of combat trauma has evolved over the past decade and has helped guide the anesthetic care of the trauma patient requiring surgical intervention. Trauma anesthesia begins before patient arrival with warming of the operating room, preparation of anesthetic medications and routine anesthetic machine checks. Induction of anesthesia must account for potential hemodynamic instability and intubation must consider airway trauma. Maintenance of anesthesia is accomplished with anesthetic gas, intravenous infusions or a combination of both. Resuscitation must precede or be ongoing with the maintenance of anesthesia. Blood product transfusion, antibiotic administration, and use of pharmacologic adjuncts (e.g., tranexamic acid, calcium) all occur simultaneously. Ventilatory strategies to mitigate lung injury can be initiated in the operating room, and resuscitation must be effectively transitioned to the intensive care setting after the case. Good communication is vital to efficient patient movement along the continuum of care. The resuscitation that is undertaken before, during and after operative management must incorporate important changes in care of the trauma patient. This Clinical Practice Guideline hopes to provide a template for care of this patient population. It outlines a method of anesthesia that incorporates the induction and maintenance of anesthesia into an ongoing resuscitation during surgery for a trauma patient in extremis.

Advances in Anesthesia Delivery in the Deployed Setting.

Lessons learned over the past decade and a half of combat casualty management has brought about numerous advances in trauma anesthesia practice. In the post-Vietnam era, deployable anesthesia equipment centered on the capability to provide a balanced anesthetic technique, utilizing a combination of volatile gas and intravenous anesthetic adjuncts. The evolution of the modern battlefield has forced anesthesia providers across the military to adapt to mission requirements that often dictate a surgical capability that is more rapidly mobile and less reliant on logistical support. Institutional medical equipment development has focused on fielding a lighter, more mobile volatile gas delivery method. Despite numerous advances in anesthetic gas delivery, many veteran anesthesia providers have come to recognize the value of alternative anesthetic techniques in the deployed setting. One of the most appealing advances in combat anesthesia practice is the emergence of total intravenous anesthetics (TIVA) for trauma management and resuscitation. Although there have been numerous developments in anesthetic equipment for use in the deployed setting, TIVA has many advantages over volatile gas administration. Future research, development, and education should focus on TIVA and the ability to provide this as an alternative safe anesthetic for patients in austere environments. It is imperative to retain the lessons we have learned in order to adapt more effectively in future conflicts. This accumulation of knowledge must inform future innovative solutions to the challenges of casualty management in a deployed setting.