J Natl Med Assoc
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Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) is a procedure used in an attempt to save lives of patients in extremis. This study aims to determine predictors of survival and futility by proposing a scoring scale that measures cardiac instability and its use in predicting survival of victims of penetrating trauma undergoing EDT. ⋯ The CIS correlated with survival of patients who underwent EDT and was found to be statistically significant in determining the outcome of an EDT.