- A Le Noël: Département d'anesthésie-réanimation, hôpital d'instruction des armées du Val-de-Grâce, 74, boulevard de Port-Royal, 75230 Paris cedex 05, France.
OBJECTIVE: Damage control is a strategy of care for bleeding trauma patients, involving minimal rescue surgery associated to perioperative resuscitation. The purpose of this review is to draw up a statement on current knowledge available on damage control.
DATA SOURCES: References were obtained from recent review articles, personal files, and Medline database research of English and French publications. All categories of articles on this topic have been selected.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Historical damage control surgery, that consist of abbreviated laparotomy with second-look after resuscitation, is now included in a wider concept called "damage control resuscitation", addressing the lethal triad (coagulopathy, hypothermia and acidosis) at an early phase. Care is focused on coagulopathy prevention. Early resuscitation, or damage control ground zero, has been improved: aggressive management of hypothermia, bleeding control techniques, permissive hypotension concept and early use of vasopressors. Transfusion practices also have evolved: early platelets and coagulation factors administration, use of hemostatic agents like recombinant FVIIa, whole blood transfusion, denote the damage control hematology. Progress in surgical practices and development of arteriographic techniques lead to wider indications of damage control strategy.