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ABC Heuristics

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Penetrating Trauma

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Abstract

Since the early years of evolution, oxygen released into the atmosphere permitted oxygen-dependent creatures to thrive. Humans are such creatures. A tube, an air pump, and a fluid pump, coded recently with the acronym ABC, extract oxygen from the environment and distribute it to the last cell, before any other functions occur. Disturb this fundamental process, and human life, after a short period of vigorous compensation, expires. Thus, the management of A, B, and C in injuries is considered crucial, and this is preached worldwide. Most physicians (not only surgeons) have been taught and are practicing those techniques to save lives. Less well known, owing to a lack of experience, is the sequence and time effectiveness with which these techniques need to be deployed in order to “buy time” for the patient and to maximize the potential salvaging of life.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Attikon Hospital, Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

    Pantelis Vassiliu

  2. Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    George Konstantoudakis & Asad Mushtaq

Authors
  1. Pantelis Vassiliu
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  2. George Konstantoudakis
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  3. Asad Mushtaq
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pantelis Vassiliu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Surgery Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard University Medical School, Boston, USA

    George C. Velmahos

  2. Professor Emeritus, Department of Surgery, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Milpark Hospital Academic Trauma Centre and Leratong Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Elias Degiannis

  3. Honorary Senior Lecturer, Department of Surgery, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Dietrich Doll

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Vassiliu, P., Konstantoudakis, G., Mushtaq, A. (2017). ABC Heuristics. In: Velmahos, G., Degiannis, E., Doll, D. (eds) Penetrating Trauma. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49859-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49859-0_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-49857-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-49859-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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