Trauma Intensive Care

Trauma Intensive Care Units (TICUs) are specialized medical facilities designed to provide advanced critical care to patients who have experienced severe injuries, often as a result of accidents, falls, or acts of violence. These units are staffed by highly trained healthcare professionals who specialize in managing traumatic injuries. The primary goal of a TICU is to stabilize and support trauma patients, preventing further complications and promoting recovery. 

Common Diseases Treated By The Department

The Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU) is a specialized area in a hospital that provides comprehensive and multidisciplinary care to patients who have suffered severe and often life-threatening injuries. Common diseases and conditions treated in the TICU include:

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Including concussions, contusions, and more severe injuries resulting from impacts to the head.
• Spinal Cord Injuries: Trauma resulting in partial or complete spinal cord damage, potentially leading to paralysis and other neurological deficits.
• Multiple Trauma or Polytrauma: Patients with multiple serious injuries that could include fractures, internal injuries, and head trauma.
• Blunt and Penetrating Trauma: This includes injuries from car accidents, falls, stabbings, and gunshot wounds.
• Severe Burns: Managing critical burn injuries that require intensive care, such as inhalation injuries and extensive third-degree burns.
• Crush Injuries: Injuries that occur when a body part is subjected to a high degree of force or pressure, usually after being squeezed between two heavy objects.
• Complicated Fractures: Especially those associated with other injuries like vascular or nerve damage.
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS): A severe lung condition that can be a complication of trauma, particularly in cases of chest injury.
• Shock: Including hypovolemic, cardiogenic, and septic shock, which are common complications in severe trauma cases.
• Postoperative Care: For patients who have undergone major surgeries due to traumatic injuries.

Common Procedures

In the Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU), a variety of key procedures are performed to manage and treat patients with severe and life-threatening injuries. These procedures are crucial for stabilizing patients, addressing immediate life-threatening conditions, and setting the stage for recovery. Common procedures include:

• Advanced Airway Management: Including intubation and mechanical ventilation for patients who are unable to breathe adequately on their own, often required in cases of severe head trauma, respiratory distress, or when under deep sedation.
• Emergency Surgery: For conditions like internal bleeding, organ perforation, or severe head trauma. This includes laparotomy (abdominal surgery), craniotomy (brain surgery), thoracotomy (chest surgery), and orthopaedic surgeries for complex fractures.
• Chest Tube Insertion: To drain blood, fluid, or air from around the lungs in cases of pneumothorax (collapsed lung) or hemothorax (blood in the pleural cavity), often resulting from blunt or penetrating chest trauma.
• Central Venous Catheterization: Inserting a catheter into a large vein to administer medication, fluids, and blood products, or to monitor central venous pressure, particularly important in managing shock.
• Hemodynamic Monitoring: Using advanced monitoring systems to track blood pressure, cardiac output, and other vital parameters, essential for critically injured patients.
• Blood Transfusions and Fluid Resuscitation: To manage blood loss and maintain circulatory volume, especially in cases of hemorrhagic shock.
• Intracranial Pressure (ICP) Monitoring: For patients with traumatic brain injury, monitoring ICP to prevent or address complications like brain herniation.
• Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT): For patients with acute kidney injury or severe renal complications as a result of their trauma.
• Wound Care and Management: Including surgical debridement, dressing changes, and management of complex or infected wounds.
• Pain Management: Critical for trauma patients, often involving multi-modal analgesia and sometimes requiring specialized interventions like nerve blocks.
• Tracheostomy: In cases of prolonged ventilation, a tracheostomy may be performed to provide a more stable and comfortable way for mechanical ventilation.

Key Advantages

• Reduced Mortality Rates: Specialized care in TICUs has been associated with improved survival rates for severely injured patients.
• Prevention of Secondary Complications: Close monitoring and targeted interventions in TICUs help prevent or mitigate potential complications, improving overall patient outcomes.
• Optimized Rehabilitation: Early and specialized care in TICUs sets the foundation for successful rehabilitation and recovery for trauma survivors.
• Improved Functional Outcomes: The specialized care provided in TICUs aims to minimize disability and maximize the patient's ability to regain function and independence.

Call 011-42888888 to book an appointment with a specialist at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute.