Tertiary Care: A Promise Of Life For Polytrauma Patients
Trauma is increasingly becoming a cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Incidents like road traffic accidents, fall from a height, occupational injuries, violence, and assaults lead to severest of trauma and polytrauma cases. Research studies have found that a majority of trauma deaths occur during the prehospital period due to insufficient care. It is, therefore, essential to assess the severity of the injury quickly and accurately.
Polytrauma and Associated Complications
Besides death, trauma, or polytrauma in patients is responsible for wide-ranging consequences that can affect an individual’s life considerably. For instance, severe injuries can result in significant financial losses, permanent deformities, and dysfunction, if prompt surgical intervention is not carried out. The role of advanced care is, therefore, of utmost importance in such cases.
Tertiary Care Units
Tertiary care unit refers to the third level of health system wherein specialized healthcare is provided. Specialized intensive care units, specialized medical personnel, advanced diagnostic support services, etc., are the key features of tertiary health care.
The Role of Tertiary Care in Polytrauma Cases
According to a study, in northern India alone, tertiary care centers receive approximately 6-7 patients with polytrauma every day. Out of these, some come directly while many are referred by primary and secondary care units.
The reason for admitting polytrauma patients in tertiary care is that it provides high-quality treatment. Working on the principles of "Time is the essence,” these care units manage the trauma cases at the earliest. As soon as the patient enters the hospital, he is attended by a team of specialists.
The tertiary care units have an organized polytrauma team and well-defined standards of operating procedure, which eventually lead to high-class treatment and faster recovery of the patients.
In an advanced tertiary care centre like ours, the teams working in the emergency department are highly specialized. Medipulse, one of the top private hospitals in Jodhpur, understands that the needs of every polytrauma patient are different; hence, after initial resuscitation, trauma cases are managed by higher specialty departments such as cardiothoracic surgery, spine surgery, plastic surgery, etc.