Chest Injury and its Surgical Treatment in Polytrauma Patients. Five-year Experience

Abstract

Chest injury, almost always blunt, is often diagnosed in polytrauma patients. A prevalent cause of multiple trauma is a traffic accident.

Chest injury most frequently involves pulmonary contusion. Nearly half of chest injuries require surgery, of which 2/3 are urgent procedures.

The procedure most frequently performed in polytrauma patients with chest injury is chest drainage and this is also a sufficient procedure in 75% of surgically treated patients.

Keywords

• Polytrauma
• chest injury
• pulmonary contusion
• surgical treatment
• chest drainage