• Derek J Roberts, Chad G Ball, David V Feliciano, Ernest E Moore, Rao R Ivatury, Charles E Lucas, Timothy C Fabian, David A Zygun, Andrew W Kirkpatrick, and Henry T Stelfox.
• *Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada †Regional Trauma Program, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ‡Department of Oncology, University of Calgary and the Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada §Department of Surgery, Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN ¶Department of Surgery, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO ||Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA **Department of Surgery, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI ††Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN ‡‡Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada §§Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Calgary and the Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ¶¶Department of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ||||Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• Ann. Surg. 2017 May 1; 265 (5): 1034-1044.

ObjectiveTo review the history of the innovation of damage control (DC) for management of trauma patients.BackgroundDC is an important development in trauma care that provides a valuable case study in surgical innovation.MethodsWe searched bibliographic databases (1950-2015), conference abstracts (2009-2013), Web sites, textbooks, and bibliographies for articles relating to trauma DC. The innovation of DC was then classified according to the Innovation, Development, Exploration, Assessment, and Long-term study model of surgical innovation.ResultsThe "innovation" of DC originated from the use of therapeutic liver packing, a practice that had previously been abandoned after World War II because of adverse events. It then "developed" into abbreviated laparotomy using "rapid conservative operative techniques." Subsequent "exploration" resulted in the application of DC to increasingly complex abdominal injuries and thoracic, peripheral vascular, and orthopedic injuries. Increasing use of DC laparotomy was followed by growing reports of postinjury abdominal compartment syndrome and prophylactic use of the open abdomen to prevent intra-abdominal hypertension after DC laparotomy. By the year 2000, DC surgery had been widely adopted and was recommended for use in surgical journals, textbooks, and teaching courses ("assessment" stage of innovation). "Long-term study" of DC is raising questions about whether the procedure should be used more selectively in the context of improving resuscitation practices.ConclusionsThe history of the innovation of DC illustrates how a previously abandoned surgical technique was adapted and readopted in response to an increased understanding of trauma patient physiology and changing injury patterns and trauma resuscitation practices.

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