Pelvic Ring Resuscitation Pathways.

Abstract

A 35 year-old female is injured in a high-speed motor vehicle collision in which her car is struck on the driver's side by a distracted driver. The patient is unable to self-extricate from the vehicle and she is confused at the scene. She comes directly to the trauma bay via EMS and a binder is placed in transit for suspicion of a pelvic ring injury. Upon presentation she has a GCS of 14 due to confusion, and an initial pressure of 87/50. Workup does not disclose an associated head, chest or abdominal injury and the anteroposterior pelvis radiograph demonstrates a windswept pelvis injury pattern. Despite being transfused 4 units of whole blood, her hypotension does not improve. Please describe your institution's advanced resuscitation protocol and management of this scenario, and provide the rational and support for it.