Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
Saint Louis University School of Medicine's Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery cares for critically injured patients at an American College of Surgeons (ACS)-verified Level I trauma center serving Missouri and Illinois.
Offering Life-Saving Surgical Care
The Division of Trauma and Acute Surgery offers high-quality, compassionate care for ICU patients from all surgical specialties. The division’s multidisciplinary team includes nurses, therapists and subspecialists, all of whom assist with round-the-clock emergency services. They operate out of SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, a Level I trauma center and tertiary care referral center.
The division offers surgical critical care fellowship training. Additionally, it maintains a close relationship with the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS), an Air Force medical training program, which provides service members with additional training in trauma and ICU care before deployment. This includes personnel from nursing, ancillary service, primary care and surgical specialties.
Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Research
The division fosters a high-impact scholarly environment that demands excellence and productivity from its fellows. Physicians present at national meetings, and their quality improvement projects have led to changes in hospital-wide practices.
- Establishing the Ethical Framework for Critical Care Genetics. Catherine Wittgen, M.D., Principal Investigator. National Institutes of Health.
- A randomized, double-blind, parallel group, multicenter phase IIIb study to compare ticagrelor with clopidogrel treatment on the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke in patients with established Peripheral Artery Disease EUCLID- Examining Use of tiCagreLor In paD).
- Protocol No 01-04-TL-242-001: A Pivotal, Multicenter, Multinational, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of TAK-242 in Adults with Severe Sepsis.
- F7Trauma-1648: A Multi-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel Group, Placebo Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Activated Recombinant Factor VII (rFVIIa/NovoSeven®/ Niastase®) in the Treatment of Refractory Bleeding in Severely Injured Trauma Patients.
- A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2B study to assess the safety and efficacy effects of art-123 on subjects with sepsis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Artisan Pharma, Inc.
- A multinational, randomized, double blind study comparing the efficacy and safety of a prolonged AVE5026 prophylaxis with a standard enoxaparin prophylaxis in the prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing high-risk abdominal surgery (PHASE III).
- Randomized double blind trial of Tigecycline for skin and soft tissue infections. Principal site investigator. Wyeth.
- Clinical Evaluation of Efficacy and Safety of FS VH s/d 500-APR for Hemostasis in Subjects Undergoing Vascular Surgery. Baxter.
- A Randomized, Open-label, Efficacy and Safety Study of Octaplex and Fresh Frozen Plasma in Patients Under Vitamin K Antagonist Therapy with the need for Urgent Surgery or Invasive Procedures. Octapharma.
- Steroid response to sedation in the ICU
- Evaluation of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis initiatives in an academic medical center