Trauma Surgeon

What is a trauma surgeon?

A trauma surgeon is a healthcare provider who does emergency surgery to treat life-threatening injuries and medical conditions. If you have a serious injury from an accident, a trauma surgeon will lead your healthcare team. That team may include critical care staff and surgical specialists. Trauma surgeons also coordinate your care after surgery, working with your primary care physician. Other titles for trauma surgeons are acute care surgeons and critical care surgeons.

What conditions do trauma surgeons treat?

Every year in the U.S., millions of people go to emergency rooms for treatment after an injury. Trauma surgeons have experience treating a wide range of injuries and illnesses, but the most common are:

• Blunt force trauma injuries: These injuries happen when you’re hit hard by a blunt force. Being in a motor vehicle accident or being injured after a fall are the most common reasons why you may need emergency surgery.
• Penetrating trauma injuries: A penetrating trauma injury happens when something breaks through your skin and enters your body. Examples are being shot, stabbed with a knife or other sharp object, or running into a sharp object.
• Burn injuries: A trauma surgeon may provide care if you have a serious thermal burn from exposure to flame, hot liquids or steam. They also treat injuries from chemical burns, inhalants or frostbite.
• Emergency general surgery and critical care: Many trauma surgeons also cover other emergency surgical situations. For example, they may do surgery to treat a life-threatening condition like bowel obstruction. They can help treat sepsis, respiratory failure or organ failure that happens when you’re already in the hospital.

What are common medical procedures that trauma surgeons do?

Trauma surgeons may do or work with other specialists on medical procedures like:

• Emergency thoracostomy: A trauma surgeon may do this procedure if there’s blood in your chest cavity or your lung collapses. This procedure involves making an incision (cut) in your chest to insert a chest tube.
• Emergency thoracotomy: A trauma surgeon may do this procedure to treat a life-threatening injury or as surgery to treat other chest injuries.
• Emergency laparotomy: This surgery involves making an incision (cut) in the middle of your abdomen (belly). A trauma surgeon may do this as part of an emergency appendectomy or to treat a traumatic abdominal injury.
• Excessive bleeding and wounds: These are traumatic injuries that can happen if you’re shot, stabbed or fall on a sharp object that penetrates your skin.
• Neurosurgery: Trauma surgeons work with neurosurgeons who do procedures to treat head injuries like subdural hematomas or traumatic brain injury.

What are the educational requirements for a trauma surgeon?

Trauma surgeons are board-certified general surgeons. In the U.S., trauma surgeons have 13 to 15 years of education, including:

• Four years of college.
• Four years of medical school.
• Five years in a residency program, where they focus on general surgery.
• One to two years in a fellowship program with an emphasis on critical care and trauma.
• They also may complete one to three years of research during the residency program.

Trauma surgeons must also:

• Complete the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.
• Obtain general surgery certification and a subspecialty certification in surgical critical care from the American Board of Surgery.

Some trauma surgeons receive additional training in providing care during mass casualty incidents. For example, they may receive training to provide care to many people hurt in a single event like a mass shooting, explosion or severe destructive weather.

What’s the difference between a general surgeon and a trauma surgeon?

All trauma surgeons are general surgeons. The difference is that trauma surgeons complete critical care and trauma fellowships and obtain certification in surgical critical care from the American Board of Surgery.

What’s the difference between a trauma center and a regular hospital?

Trauma centers have specialized staff on call 24 hours a day. In the U.S., state or local authorities designate specific hospitals as trauma centers. The American College of Surgeons verifies that a given trauma center has resources, including trauma surgeons, to provide care to people with life-threatening injuries or conditions.

Do trauma surgeons do surgery for all types of injuries?

Trauma surgeons most often work with neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons. They work with neurosurgeons to treat injuries that affect your brain, spine and spinal cord. Trauma surgeons also work with orthopaedic surgeons to treat injuries that affect your bones. They also work with emergency room healthcare providers to treat people who have traumatic injuries.