Traumatology is the study and treatment of physical and emotional trauma. Surgeons are trained in physical trauma, while psychology and psychiatry deal with emotional trauma. Military surgery is advanced and has influenced civilian medicine. Psychological trauma can result from physical trauma, and healthcare workers are also at risk. Treatment may include medication and psychotherapy. Psychological debriefing is recognized as necessary after traumatic incidents.
Traumatology is a medical specialty related to the study and treatment of trauma. While this term usually refers to physical trauma, it is also used in some regions to discuss emotional trauma. The training of specialists in this discipline varies according to where they practice and the type of trauma they focus on. For physical trauma, traumatology is usually taught to surgeons such as dental surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and general surgeons. Psychological trauma is the origin of psychology and psychiatry.
Physical trauma can occur within seconds and can be highly devastating. Trauma includes on-site patient management, safe transportation of patients to medical facilities, evaluation of patients prior to surgery, and treatment of patients in operating rooms, aftercare units, and long-term rehabilitation facilities. A challenge with traumatology is that the injuries can be diverse and severe, and surgeons must be able to identify urgent problems in order to prioritize treatment. For example, a motorcyclist might have a very unsightly-looking open fracture, but an altered level of consciousness indicative of a head injury is more of a concern.
One of the forerunners in the field of trauma surgery is the military. Military personnel must be prepared to deal with a wide variety of severe physical trauma in a variety of settings ranging from battlefield hospitals to advanced care facilities on home soil. Military surgery is often the most advanced in the world, and a number of developments in military medical facilities have made their way into the civilian world, from triage protocols to new medical devices.
Psychological trauma can be the result of a variety of experiences, including physical trauma; many people experience psychological problems as a result of traffic accidents or injuries acquired during military service. Traumatology focused on psychological problems examines how such trauma is acquired and how to treat it. Treatments may include medications to stabilize patients along with psychotherapy to help them process and overcome experiences of trauma.
One area of psychological traumatology with an increasing number of researchers concerns the traumas experienced by health care workers. People who work in trauma medicine can experience psychological trauma, especially if they work under stress as military surgeons often do. Clinicians recognize the need for psychological debriefing after mass traumatic incidents or other medical situations in which people become distressed or emotionally attached, and the use of exit interviews to monitor people for signs of psychological complications when completing traumatic cases is increasingly common.
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