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Acute Care Surgery

Where Lives Are Saved The Division of Acute Care Surgery provides around-the-clock, specialist-led care for critically ill surgical patients, from initial resuscitation to rehabilitation for a complete return to life.

Why the Division of Acute Care Surgery at Asan Medical Center Is Unique

The Division of Acute Care Surgery at Asan Medical Center is a highly specialized unit, recognized worldwide for its excellence in caring for critically ill surgical patients.

We provide specialist-led care around the clock, every day of the year, covering the full continuum of treatment from initial resuscitation to comprehensive rehabilitation designed to support a complete return to normal life. Our patients include individuals who require critical care following high-risk surgical procedures, major trauma, and emergency surgery for life-threatening acute abdominal conditions such as bowel perforation and intestinal ischemia.

Critically ill surgical patients often face unpredictable and rapidly deteriorating conditions, making timely, expert, and comprehensive care essential. To address these challenges, our division operates a continuous, board-certified on-call system that ensures an immediate response during the critical golden hour.

Core Services of the Division of Acute Care Surgery

Surgical Critical Care

We provide advanced critical care for high-risk surgical patients facing life-threatening conditions, both before and after surgery.

Key areas include:

  • Management of shock, severe infection, massive bleeding, and multiple organ failure
  • Perioperative intensive care for high-risk surgical patients
  • Advanced life-support therapies such as mechanical ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)

Severe Trauma Care

Our trauma specialists deliver expert surgical care for patients with multiple or complex traumatic injuries. From the primary survey and resuscitation to damage control surgery, intensive critical care, and definitive surgical management, we ensure comprehensive care at every stage. A fully integrated multidisciplinary trauma team enables prompt clinical decisions and coordinated surgical interventions, maximizing patient outcomes in time-critical situations.

Emergency General Surgery

We provide rapid and precise surgical intervention for life-threatening abdominal emergencies. Our scope of care encompasses a wide range of acute surgical conditions, including: gastrointestinal perforation, mesenteric ischemia, Intra-abdominal sepsis, Fournier’s gangrene, intraperitoneal bleeding, intestinal obstruction with strangulation, and pancreatic emergencies.

ICU Rehabilitation

Beyond Survival, From ICU to the PICS (Post-Intensive Care Syndrome) Clinic Survivors of intensive care often suffer from Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS), a condition characterized by physical weakness, cognitive impairment, and mental health challenges. To address this, our team provides individualized rehabilitation beginning early in the ICU, including physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, swallowing therapy, and occupational therapy.

From the ICU through the ward to the PICS clinic, this patient-centered rehabilitation system supports functional recovery and enhances long-term quality of life after hospital discharge.

Five Strengths of Our Division

  • The leading and most advanced acute care surgery system in Korea
  • 24/7/365 expert-led acute and critical care system
  • Patient-centered treatment through coordinated interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Comprehensive, patient-centered rehabilitation that supports life beyond survival
  • Robust national and international collaboration and medical education

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