Early Total Care versus Damage Control: Current Concepts in the Orthopedic Care of Polytrauma Patients

The management of the polytraumatized orthopedic patient remains a challenging issue. In recent years many efforts have been made to develop rescue techniques and to promote guidelines for the management of these patients. Currently controversies persist between two orthopedic approaches: the Early Total Care and the Damage Control Orthopedics. An overview of the current literature on the orthopedic management of polytrauma patient is provided. Subsequently, femoral shaft fractures, representing extremely common lesions, and pelvic ring injuries, that are associated with a high mortality rate, are analyzed in detail.