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Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Clinical Challenges in Trauma Surgery: Stabbed in the Back - Decision Making in a Penetrating Junctional Vascular Injury

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Science, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Education

4.81.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“It’s 5pm and your Consultant (attending) has headed off home. A patient arrives in the resuscitation room blood spurting from a stab wound in the armpit. Join Roisin – a junior Major Trauma fellow, Prash – a surgical trainee, Max – a senior trauma surgery fellow, and Chris – a Consultant trauma surgeon, as we talk through decision making from point of injury to aftercare in this challenging trauma surgical case”.

• Hosts: Bulleted list of host names, including title, institution, & social media handles if indicated
1.     Mr Prashanth Ramaraj. General Surgery trainee, Edinburgh rotation. @LonTraumaSchool
2.     Dr Roisin Kelly. Major Trauma Junior Clinical Fellow, Royal London Hospital. 
3.     Mr Max Marsden. Resuscitative Major Trauma Fellow, Royal London Hospital. @maxmarsden83
4.     Mr Christopher Aylwin. Consultant Trauma & Vascular Surgeon and Co-Programme Director MSc Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. @cjaylwin

• Learning objectives: Bulleted list of learning objectives.
A)    To become familiar with prehospital methods of haemorrhage control in penetrating junctional injuries.
B)     To recognise the benefits of prehospital blood product resuscitation in some trauma patients.
C)     To follow the nuanced decision making in decision for CT scan in a patient with a penetrating junctional injury.
D)    To describe the possible approaches to the axillary artery in the context of resuscitative trauma surgery.
E)     To become familiar with decision making around intraoperative systemic anticoagulation in the trauma patient.
F)     To become familiar with decision making on type of repair and graft material in vascular trauma.
G)    To recognise the team approach in holistic trauma care through the continuum of trauma care.

• References: Bulleted list of references with PubMed links.

1.    Perkins Z. et al., 2012. Epidemiology and Outcome of Vascular Trauma at a British Major Trauma Centre. EJVES. https://www.ejves.com/article/S1078-5884(12)00337-1/fulltext
2.    Ramaraj P., et al. 2025. The anatomical distribution of penetrating junctional injuries and their resource implications: A retrospective cohort study. Injury. https://www.injuryjournal.com/article/S0020-1383(24)00771-X/
3.    Smith, S., et al. 2019. The effectiveness of junctional tourniquets: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/abstract/2019/03000/the_effectiveness_of_junctional_tourniquets__a.20.aspx
4.    Rijnhout TWH, et al. 2019. Is prehospital blood transfusion effective and safe in haemorrhagic trauma patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Injury. https://www.injuryjournal.com/article/S0020-1383(19)30133-0/
5.    Davenport R, et al. 2023. Prehospital blood transfusion: Can we agree on a standardised approach? Injury. https://www.injuryjournal.com/article/S0020-1383(22)00915-9.
6.    Borgman MA., et al. 2007. The Ratio of Blood Products Transfused Affects Mortality in Patients Receiving Massive Transfusions at a Combat Support Hospital. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/fulltext/2007/10000/the_ratio_of_blood_products_transfused_affects.13.aspx
7.    Holcomb JB., et al. 2013. The Prospective, Observational, Multicenter, Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) Study. Comparative Effectiveness of a Time-Varying Treatment With Competing Risks. JAMA Surgery. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/1379768
8.    Holcomb JB, et al. 2015. Transfusion of Plasma, Platelets, and Red Blood Cells in a 1:1:1 vs a 1:1:2 Ratio and Mortality in Patients With Severe Trauma. The PROPPR Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2107789
9.    Davenport R., et al. 2023. Early and Empirical High-Dose Cryoprecipitate for Hemorrhage After Traumatic Injury. The CRYOSTAT-2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2810756
10.   Baksaas-Aasen K., et al. 2020. Viscoelastic haemostatic assay augmented protocols for major trauma haemorrhage (ITACTIC): a randomized, controlled trial. ICM. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00134-020-06266-1
11. Wahlgren CM., et al. 2025. European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) 2025 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Vascular Trauma. EJVES. https://esvs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-Vascular-Trauma-Guidelines.pdf
12. Khan S., et al. 2020. A meta-analysis on anticoagulation after vascular trauma. Eur J Traum Emerg Surg. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00068-020-01321-4
13. Stonko DP., et al. 2022. Postoperative antiplatelet and/or anticoagulation use does not impact complication or reintervention rates after vein repair of arterial injury: A PROOVIT study. Vascular. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17085381221082371?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Behind the Knife.

0:24.5

This is Patrick Georgoff.

0:25.6

I want you to imagine this.

0:27.1

It's 2 a.m.

0:27.9

And you're rushing a hypotensive trauma patient to the operating room for exploration.

0:32.4

Maybe you need to go into the neck, the chest, or the abdomen.

0:35.7

Are you prepared for what you might find?

0:38.0

Trauma educational resources are extremely limited. and that's why we created the trauma

0:41.5

surgery video atlas.

0:43.7

24 challenging scenarios with high-yield text, beautiful illustrations, and stunning,

0:48.2

professional grade video that walks you through the approach and management of devastating

0:52.2

injuries in a step-by-step fashion. Check out the link in the show notes for more. There are group discounts available as well. Now, enjoy the episode and dominate the day.

1:03.3

Welcome to our first trauma subspecialty podcast with a challenging clinical case from London in the UK. We're excited to bring some more British

1:11.1

voices to the Behind the Knife catalogue. Today we'll discuss a case from the UK's longest

1:16.7

established major trauma centre and one of the busiest in Europe. I'm Pras Ramaraj, a surgical

1:21.7

trainee, similar to PGY5 in the Edinburgh rotation. A former medical student down in London and a trauma sciences MNBC student at Queen Mary's University of London slash the Royal London.

1:33.6

Joining me today is Roshin Kelly.

1:36.7

Hi, I'm Roshin Kelly.

1:38.4

I'm a clinical fellow similar to PGY3, working in the major trauma department at the Royal London Hospital.

1:45.8

We also have with us my colleague, Matt Marsden.

1:48.7

Thanks, Machine. My name's Max Marsden. I'm a trauma fellow in resuscitated trauma surgery here at the

1:53.7

Royal London. And I also work for the British Army. And lastly, we have from my colleague, Mr. Chris

...

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