Emergency thoracotomy

Emergency thoracotomy is a valuable therapeutic modality for the moribund patient when trauma is the cause of the shock state. It is a procedure that requires an understanding of the technique and indications and should be instituted based on the indications listed above. There is probably no reason to do this procedure in the patient who is in extremis as a result of blunt trauma, because results have been universally dismal in these patients. In the patient with a rapidly expanding abdomen resulting from trauma and who is moribund, opening the chest and cross-clamping the aorta may be beneficial. Emergency thoracotomy does not take the place of volume replacement and definitive surgical care for the trauma patient.