Trauma surgeons can render definitive surgical care for major thoracic injuries

Restrictions on the operative domain of general surgeons threaten the viability of trauma surgery as a career choice. Our study hypothesis is that an experienced trauma surgeon can provide definitive care for life-threatening thoracic trauma. This analysis is based on clinical outcomes at an ACS-verified level I center in which there are more than 3000 trauma admissions managed annually under the direction of four academic trauma surgeons. We selected penetrating cardiac wounds and blunt tears of the thoracic aorta because these injuries are managed exclusively by the trauma service and the endpoints are distinct. During the past 4 years, 40 patients with cardiac wounds were delivered to the ED; 23 patients arrived dead. In the remaining 17, injury mechanisms were 15 stab wounds (SW), one gunshot wound (GSW), and one shotgun (SGW). Four of these patients required ED thoracotomy, and the remaining 13 underwent some form of prethoracotomy pericardial decompression. Survival rate without neurologic deficit was 94% (16 of 17). During this same period, 19 patients with a torn thoracic aorta from blunt injuries arrived with signs of life. In this group the injury mechanisms were automobile crash in 15, and the mean ISS was 39.7 +/- 2.3. One patient was transferred for total cardiopulmonary bypass; 17 of the remaining patients underwent aortic repair employing partial left heart bypass. Sixteen of our 18 patients lived and none developed paraplegia. In summary, excluding patients who arrived dead, survival for penetrating cardiac wounds was 94% and for blunt thoracic aortic tears 89%. In conclusion, these data support our contention that trauma surgeons can render definitive care for thoracic injuries with survival rates comparable to those reported by cardiothoracic surgeons.