2011 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 745-750
Acute Care Surgery is a new surgical subspecialty proposed by the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). The discipline of trauma surgery is at a crossroads, or in crisis in the United States, and the situation is similar in Japan. Trauma surgery residents seem to regard trauma surgery as a non-operative field now, because the majority of injured patients are treated via non-operative management. The new subspecialty will make the discipline more attractive, sustainable, and meet the needs of patients and society. Actually, surgeons in the department of trauma and emergency surgery of our hospital can have adequate surgical experience, because we perform emergency general surgery operations in addition to trauma operations like acute care surgeons. The Japanese Society for the Acute Care Surgery was established in 2009, and we hope acute care surgery will develop in the future in Japan.
