Early appropriate care
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Early appropriate care (EAC) is a system in orthopaedic trauma surgery aiming to identify serious major trauma patients and treat the most time-critical injuries without adding to their physiological burden.
EAC prescribes that definitive management of unstable axial skeleton and long bone fractures should only be undertaken within 36 hours if an adequate response to resuscitation has been demonstrated by:[citation needed]
- pH ≥7.25
- Lactate ≤4 mmol/L
- Base excess > (less negative than) -5.5 mmol/L
Other factors such as coagulopathy and hypothermia (parts of the Trauma triad of death) would also be indications for DCO with external fixation.[citation needed]