Management of blunt thoracic trauma.

By reading this article, you should be able to: •Illustrate the general principles of management in blunt thoracic trauma. •Describe an initial strategy for the management of immediately life-threatening injuries in blunt thoracic trauma. •Define an initial strategy for management of potentially life-threatening injuries in blunt thoracic trauma. •Explain an approach for managing cardiac arrest in the patient with blunt thoracic trauma. Ravi Mistry FANZCA FCICM is a consultant intensivist at Gold Coast University Hospital. His major clinical interests are intensive care for the cardiothoracic patient and echocardiography. James E. Moore FANZCA FCICM is a consultant intensivist and cardiothoracic anaesthetist at Wellington Regional Hospital. He is the clinical lead for New Zealand's Central Region Trauma Network, national medical advisor for St John Ambulance and is a senior research fellow at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand. His major research interest is in trauma-induced coagulopathy.