The trauma surgeon in the emergency department, a life saver ?

Abstract

Background: The golden age of trauma has gone. 25 years ago the trauma surgeon was the life saver in the emergency department. He was the leader of the resuscitation team and made the important decisions in the process. Nowadays different factors have diminished the role of the trauma surgeon.

Discussion: Thanks to the decrease of severely injured patients in Europe and the advances in diagnostic and treatment possibilities the approach to trauma victims is less often operative. Furthermore, the uprising of emergency medicine specialists has taken many tasks out of the hands of the trauma surgeon. However, experienced trauma surgeons can do both critical care and acute care surgery and should be included in the decision-making process in the emergency room. Conclusion: Although the trauma surgeon often is no longer the captain of the ship in the emergency department, he can still play an important role in trauma care. They still are life savers.

Abbreviations: CAT-scan: computed axial tomography . CT: computed tomography; HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Key Words:

• Emergency medicine
• emergency surgery
• trauma
• trauma surgeon.