Emergency clamshell thoracotomy in blunt trauma resuscitation: Shelling the paradigm-2 cases and review of the literature

Patrick Schober; Marcel A de Leeuw; Maartje Terra; Stephan A Loer; Lothar A Schwarte

doi:10.1002/ccr3.1653

Emergency clamshell thoracotomy in blunt trauma resuscitation: Shelling the paradigm-2 cases and review of the literature

Clin Case Rep. 2018 Jun 19;6(8):1521-1524. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.1653. eCollection 2018 Aug.

Authors

Patrick Schober^{1

2}, Marcel A de Leeuw^{1

2}, Maartje Terra^{2

3}, Stephan A Loer^{1

2}, Lothar A Schwarte^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology VU University Medical Center Amsterdam The Netherlands.
² Trauma Center with HEMS Lifeliner 1 VU University Medical Center Amsterdam The Netherlands.
³ Department of Traumatology VU University Medical Center Amsterdam The Netherlands.

Abstract

Clamshell thoracotomy (CST) may be indicated and life-saving in carefully selected cases of blunt trauma. As such, the current clinical stance of general contraindication of CST in blunt trauma should be reviewed and criteria developed to accommodate select cases, considering the diversity of injuries resulting from blunt trauma.

Keywords: arrest; blunt trauma; clamshell; return of spontaneous circulation; sterno‐thoracotomy; thoracotomy.

Publication types

Case Reports