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.