Blunt thoracic trauma treatment outcomes- A small center experience

• Author Details:   
• Shegu Gilbert
• Devender Singh
• Rahul Satheesan
• Gowtham Sundaram Venkatesan
• Mrinalini Singh

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Background: Blunt injury to the chest has a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Road traffic accidents are the major cause of blunt injury to the chest. We aimed to analyze the demographics, mode of injury, radiological findings, injury scores, length of stay and mortality of patients with chest trauma admitted to the cardiothoracic unit at our tertiary care hospital.
Materials and Methods: Retrospective data analysis of 53 patients admitted to the cardiothoracic unit from January 2016 to March 2016 was under taken. All patients with chest injury were included in the study. Patients with major head trauma were excluded. Statistical analysis was done. Variables were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and percentage.
Results: Mean age of patients were 45.5±15 years. Only fifteen percent of patients were females. Motor vehicle accidents was the major cause of blunt injury chest (75.7%). Incidence of extra thoracic injuries were 75.5%. Most common injury were rib fractures (85%). 51.5% of patients required intercostal drainage. Length of hospital stay was 9.2±5.6 days. Average injury severity score (ISS) was 30.63±16.79.
Conclusions: Majority of patients with blunt injury to the chest require simple techniques of management like intercostal drainage (ICD) which is lifesaving in the emergent setting. ICD and serial radiological monitoring and observation with supportive treatment like analgesia, ventilator support and adequate chest physiotherapy is sufficient in most of the patients. Multi-disciplinary approach with active involvement of other specialties and physiotherapy improves the outcomes for trauma patients.

Keywords: Injury severity score; Polytrauma; Rib fractures; Thoracic injuries