[Physical and psychological traumatism. Dialectic of singular tragedy and biology]

A good clinical assessment and a strict hospital's organization characterized essentially by the best climate of cooperation between the different departments permits now to control and to prevent some surgical sequelae. For a long time (approximately the 50's) generalists physicians, psychiatrists, behaviourists, have been limited in diagnosis and treatment afterwards. They could not take preventive measures, because the lack or insufficient acknowledge about this area. In fact, every surgical intervention implies psychic and existential, acute or long term disorders. A briefly summarized clinical case illustrate principles for the practice. The preventive approach of the post-surgical psychic troubles concern a lot of elements related to the patient's environement: social interactions, technic cares, types of drugs, style of relation between the specialized teams and patient, social and professional support and so on... The events, even the apparently minor, have to be enough mastered into the resuscitation's setting. The most important trouble is the "post-traumatic stress disorder" (cf D.S.M. III R), or (in the european traduction) a "névrose traumatique". It is a stress or illness of the whole existence, especially in the case of delayed subtype. The authors emphasize the notion of "second traumatism", often withdrived from social, familial and medical supports.