Resuscitative Thoracotomy for Trauma: What is the Role in Caribbean Countries?

Abstract

The incidence of trauma has been steadily increasing in many Caribbean countries over the past decade. This has led to an increase in the number of resuscitative thoracotomies being performed in emergency rooms across the Caribbean. Many advisory groups have proposed selection criteria for this procedure in developed countries, but most Caribbean countries operate under different health care environments. We may not be able to adopt all the proposed indications with the status of our health care systems. We discuss the indications for emergency room resuscitative thoracotomy from a Caribbean perspective.