A 34-year-old industrial worker is brought to the trauma bay after being involved in an accident with heavy machinery. On arrival, he has a pulsatile, massive hemorrhage from a mangled right leg. He is making gurgling sounds, his respiratory rate is 8/min, and he has a weak radial pulse of 130/min.
Arrange the following acute management steps in the correct chronological sequence according to current Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) principles.
- 1Apply a mechanical tourniquet proximal to the right lower extremity injury.
- 2Suction the oropharynx and perform endotracheal intubation with in-line cervical stabilization.
- 3Auscultate bilateral breath sounds and apply continuous pulse oximetry.
- 4Insert two large-bore peripheral intravenous catheters and send blood for type and crossmatch.
- 5Calculate the Glasgow Coma Scale score and examine pupillary responses.
Cevap
The correct sequence follows the updated ATLS <C>ABCDE paradigm: control of catastrophic external hemorrhage, followed by Airway, Breathing, Circulation, and Disability assessments.
The Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) 10th edition update shifted the primary survey paradigm from ABCDE to <C>ABCDE. The <C> stands for Catastrophic hemorrhage. A patient with a pulsatile, massive arterial bleed will exsanguinate in minutes. Therefore, immediate mechanical hemorrhage control (e.g., tourniquet) precedes airway management. Once catastrophic bleeding is controlled, the traditional sequence resumes: Airway (suction, intubation with C-spine precautions), Breathing (auscultation, pulse oximetry), Circulation (IV access, blood type and crossmatch), and Disability (GCS and pupils).
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Anahtar Kavram
Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Primary Survey: <C>ABCDE approach