Cheju Halla General Hospital Regional Trauma Center Saves Patient from Heart Rupture

The medical staff at the Regional Trauma Center in Jeju saved a man’s life after his heart was ruptured in an accident in which he was run over by a car. 

According to the Regional Trauma Center of Cheju Halla General Hospital (President Kim Sung-soo), a man in his 50s was transported to the center with critical injuries, including a heart rupture, after being hit by a car in the middle of the night in February.

The thoracic surgery team (Dr. Jo Hyeon-min, Dr. Oh Jeong-u, and Dr. Lee Tae-yeon) was called to the trauma center as soon as the news was received, and they performed pericardiocentesis immediately after the patient arrived in the emergency room to restore the heartbeat from cardiac arrest. 

Then, in an emergency operation, the site of the heart rupture was sutured under general anesthesia while performing extracorporeal circulation using a heart lung machine.

Fortunately, the operation was a success, and about a month later on March 20, the patient was transferred from the trauma intensive care unit to the trauma ward.

Cheju Halla General Hospital explained that, despite the heart rupture, which can be fatal, the patient was able to survive, as the thoracic surgery team made an accurate assessment and performed all the necessary treatments from the emergency procedure to cardiac surgery using a cardiopulmonary system flawlessly without any interruption. 

Meanwhile, the Regional Trauma Center, which opened at Cheju Halla General Hospital in March 2020, is staffed with trauma specialists specializing in emergency medicine and trauma surgery (surgery and thoracic surgery) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and they are capable of tending to critical trauma patients immediately upon arrival.