Resuscitative thoracotomy: a practical approach

The survival after traumatic cardiac arrest is low but similar to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of any cause. Potential reversible pathologies must be addressed immediately, regardless of patient location at the time of diagnosis. Resuscitative thoracotomy is a well-established surgical intervention that may result in a neurologically good outcome for some patients in traumatic cardiac arrest. This paper describes a simple approach to resuscitative thoracotomy that can be used by a doctor in the pre-hospital environment and in the emergency department.