Emergency Medicine: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

The Feasibility of the Damage Control Surgery for Life Threatening Conditions

Dae Hoon Kim, Young Deok Shin, Ki Bae Kim and Dong Hee Ryu

Background: Damage control surgery is a lifesaving technique used to control bleeding or contamination and to close temporary operative wounds in life threatening conditions. After the correction of physiologic abnormalities, patients will receive definitive management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of the DCS for life threatening conditions.
Methods: This study was conducted on 13 patients who underwent DCS between March 2003 and May 2007. 10 patients were traumatic injury patients, and 3 were mesenteric infarction patients. We retrospectively evaluated the feasibility of DCS, and analyzed the risk factors after DCS.
Results: Overall mortality rates were 38.5% (five deaths among thirteen patients). The mortality rates of the patients with lethal triad; acidosis, hypothermia and coagulopathy are 83.3% (five deaths among six patients), 60.0% (three deaths among five patients), 50.0% (five deaths among ten patients), respectively. None survival patients were more frequent acute respiratory distress syndrome (60.0%), multi-organ dysfunction (100.0%) and abdominal compartment syndrome (60.0%).
Conclusions: DCS for the patients with life threatening conditions showed feasible results in our study. The mortality of patients with acidosis, coagulopathy and hypothermia were higher than the patients without.