In most settings, the initial evaluation and stabilization of<unk> tic injury follows the same general principles of identifying and treating immediately life-threatening injuries. In the US, the American College of Surgeons publishes the Advanced<unk>  Life Support guidelines, which provide a step-by-step approach to the initial assessment, stabilization, diagnostic reasoning, and treatment of<unk> tic injuries that codifies this general principle. The assessment typically begins by ensuring that the subject's airway is open and competent, that breathing is unlabored, and that circulation—i.e. pulses that can be felt—is present. This is sometimes described as the "A, B, C's"—Airway, Breathing, and Circulation—and is the first step in any resuscitation or triage. Then, the history of the accident or injury is amplified with any medical, dietary (timing of last oral intake) and past history, from whatever sources such as family, friends, previous treating physicians that might be available. This method is sometimes given the mnemonic "SAMPLE". The amount of time spent on diagnosis should be minimized and expedited by a combination of clinical assessment and appropriate use of technology, such as diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL), or bedside ultrasound examination (FAST) before proceeding to laparotomy if required. If time and the patient's stability permits, CT examination may be carried out if available. Its advantages include superior definition of the injury, leading to grading of the injury and sometimes the confidence to avoid or postpone surgery. Its disadvantages include the time taken to acquire images, although this gets shorter with each generation of scanners, and the removal of the patient from the immediate view of the emergency or surgical staff. Many providers use the aid of an algorithm such as the ATLS guidelines to determine which images to obtain following the initial assessment. These algorithms take into account the mechanism of injury, physical examination, and patient's vital signs to determine whether patients should have imaging or proceed directly to surgery. Recently, criteria have been defined that might allow patients with<unk>  abdominal<unk>  to be discharged safely without further evaluation. The characteristics of such patients include: * absence of intoxication * no evidence of lowered blood pressure or raised pulse rate * no abdominal pain or tenderness * no blood in the urine. To be considered low risk, patients would need to meet all low-risk criteria.
Blunt trauma
Blast injury
Penetrating trauma
Avulsion injury
Barotrauma
Running injuries
Polytrauma
Lightning injury