Abstract

Introduction: Disaster triage involves categorizing casualties according to the need of medical care in a disaster situation when number of casualties overwhelm the capacity of medical services available . Triage is a continuous process and done at different levels. They are done initially at the site of disaster at the site of transport to hospital and on arrival at accident and emergency department to determine priority for resuscitation again. This is followed by triage performed to send patient to operating theatre .Currently available literature does not describe a triage concept beyond this level although many agree that triage should be done periodically. Aim: Aim of this article is to describe a new concept termed intraoperative triage which is an extension of general principals governing disaster triage in to the operating theatre. Description of the concept: In a mass casualty situation a forward hospital may find available specialist surgical cover scarce compared to that of middle grade doctors and opened-up theater beds. Simpler components of operations as well as anesthesia can be performed by middle grade doctors but complex injuries need advice and often manual input of experienced surgeons who are in short supply. The surgeon need to shift between patients performing the specialized and urgent components only leaving less experienced to complete the rest. Conclusion: Intraoperative Triage stretches the primary concepts governing triage further in to intraoperative delivery of health care in a mass casualty situation. It is a process which is required to be discussed, formalized and disseminated among trauma surgical community in order to save more lives of disaster victims.