Acute care surgery is a relatively new surgical field that incorporates training in surgical critical care, trauma surgery, and emergency general surgery to urgently assess and treat patients with general surgical emergencies. Most emergencies that require an acute care surgeon are abdominal conditions including, but not limited to, acute appendicitis, cholecystitis, diverticulitis, pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction, intestinal ischemia, intra-abdominal sepsis, incarcerated hernias and perforated internal organs.
Many of these patients have an acute or imminent need for surgical intervention. In addition, patients who require surgery to treat one condition may also have another chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension or a history of massive bleeding. These patients require a hospital with a specialized ICU that ensures an advanced level of 24/7 observation before, during and after their procedure.
At Capital Health Regional Medical Center, our acute care surgeons are highly trained to care for patients like these at a moment's notice. Part of the recent $100 million transformation project at Capital Health Regional Medical Center was the creation of a new dedicated Trauma/Medical ICU that provides advanced level care and monitoring for surgical patients and trauma patients who have chronic or critical health issues.