When I did my residency training in Emergency Medicine and in the first few years as an attending, we regularly performed diagnostic peritoneal lavages in patients with stab wounds injuries to the abdomen. Patients also routinely went to the operating room for exploration.
Now with the evolution of CT imaging technology and more clinical studies, there is now a role for a less invasive management approach. These are the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) guidelines.
Feel free to download this card and print on a 4'' x 6'' index card.
Finally, can we be done with the DPL!
ReplyDeleteI know right? I haven't seen one in several years now, but I do recall them be more liberally being used 8-10 years ago. I hated that feeling of 1 L goes in ... 200 mL comes out. Hmm...
DeleteI've heard of an occasional one being doing for the severely head injured slightly unstable patient who goes to the OR but increasingly gets hypotensive. But yes, let's get rid of it!