Journal of Nippon Medical School = Nippon Ika Daigaku zasshi
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Several reports have validated the criteria for damage control surgery (DCS). However, although metabolic acidosis and body temperature can be measured quickly, tests for predicting the severity of coagulopathy require special laboratory equipment and take 15 to 30 minutes. Such delays could be life-threatening for patients requiring DCS. The aim of this study was to establish simplified and practical criteria to enable rapid decision-making regarding the need for DCS. ⋯ Our results indicate that surgeons should decide to perform DCS when only one or two criteria defined in this study are met and should not wait for all three criteria. Although our proposed criteria are not strict and may broaden the indications for DCS, leading to an increase in the number of DCS procedures, saving the lives of patients who have sustained severe torso trauma must be the priority; 'over-triage' may be acceptable in situations where an appropriate decision-making protocol has been followed.