1. Simple thoracostomy in prehospital trauma management is safe and effective: a 2-year experience by helicopter emergency medical crews
- Author
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Adriano Rinaldi, Giulio Trillò, Lorenzo Burato, Barbara Bacer, Alberto Babuin, Giorgio Berlot, Massarutti D, M Viviani, Loris D'orlando, Elio Carchietti, Ariella Tomasini, Massarutti, D., Trillo, G., Berlot, G., Tomasini, A., Bacer, B., D'Orlando, L., Viviani, M., Rinaldi, A., Babuin, A., Burato, L., and Carchietti, E.
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Emergency Medical Services ,Thoracic Injuries ,Adolescent ,Aircraft ,Thoracostomy ,Wounds, Nonpenetrating ,Prehospital emergency treatment ,Injury Severity Score ,Trauma management ,80 and over ,Humans ,Nonpenetrating ,Medicine ,Prospective Studies ,Hemopneumothorax ,Chest tube ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,Hemothorax ,Emergency Medical Service ,Thoracic Injurie ,business.industry ,Pneumothorax ,Female ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Prospective Studie ,Severe trauma ,Prehospital treatment ,Wounds ,Emergency Medicine ,Observational study ,Medical emergency ,business ,Human - Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and potential complications of simple thoracostomy, as first described by Deakin, as a method for prehospital treatment of traumatic pneumothorax. METHODS: Prospective observational study of all severe trauma patients rescued by our Regional Helicopter Emergency Medical Service and treated with on-scene simple thoracostomy, over a period of 25 months, from June 1, 2002 to June 30, 2004. RESULTS: Fifty-five consecutive severely injured patients with suspected pneumothorax and an average Revised Trauma Score of 9.6±2.7 underwent field simple thoracostomy. Oxygen saturation significantly improved after the procedure (from 86.4±10.2% to 98.5%±4.7%, P
- Published
- 2006