POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF CHEST TRAUMA IN A SURGICAL UNIT

Objective: To explore the main chest trauma injuries and analysis of suitable trauma management at surgical units of a hospital in Pakistan.

Methodology: This was a case series research conducted during Sep, 2016 to Feb, 2018 at Services Hospital Lahore. A total of 103 chest injury patients were evaluated during the period. All the patients with chest trauma and associated injuries with an age of 12 or more years were included in this research.

Results: The study lasted for 18 months and a total of 103 patients were analyzed for various chest traumas during the research time period. The chest injuries were divided into two categories blunt and penetrating injuries. The prevalence of each type was 58% and 42% respectively. Chest injuries without any trapped blood (haemothorax) and trapped air (pneumothorax) was noticed in 30 patients (29%). Tube insertion was carried out in 64 trauma patients for treatment of pneumothorax (62%). A total of 9 Thoracotomy cases (9%) were performed. Out of 9 patients, only two cases required emergency procedure. An overall mortality rate of 8% was observed in this research.

Conclusion: The chest piercing injuries are often seen due to gunshots and other chest probing. Blunt injuries are more common. Most of the trauma cases are curable at local hospitals and some cases require complex operations at a major surgical care hospital.

Keyword: Chest trauma, Tube thoracotomy, Pneumothorax, Haemothorax, Blunt trauma, Penetrating trauma.