Cardiovascular injuries associated with sternal fractures
Objective: To find out if the presence of a sternal fracture indicates cardiac and aortic injuries and to clarify the difference between a retrosternal haematoma and widened mediastinum. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Teaching hospital, Sweden. Subjects: 418 patients with blunt chest trauma o...
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Published in | The European journal of surgery Vol. 167; no. 4; pp. 243 - 248 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
UK
Taylor & Francis, Ltd
01.04.2001
Taylor & Francis |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
ISSN | 1102-4151 1741-9271 |
DOI | 10.1080/110241501300091345 |
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Summary: | Objective:
To find out if the presence of a sternal fracture indicates cardiac and aortic injuries and to clarify the difference between a retrosternal haematoma and widened mediastinum.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Teaching hospital, Sweden.
Subjects:
418 patients with blunt chest trauma of whom 29 had a fractured sternum (11 with retrosternal haematoma and 18 without) and 389 did not (7 with widened mediastinum and 382 without).
Main outcome measures:
Definitions, risk factors, morbidity, and mortality.
Results:
Retrosternal haematomas were found adjacent to many fractures and ranged in size from a few mm to 2 cm. They were more common in fractures of the body of sternum. There was no significant difference in the number of associated lesions between patients with sternal fractures with or without a retrosternal haematoma. Conversely, patients with a widened mediastinum had a higher injury severity score, longer hospital stay (p < 0.0001), and more associated lesions (p < 0.05) than those with retrosternal haematomas. Six patients still had pain 1 month after injury of whom two had injury‐related long‐term disability because of pain. No serious cardiac or aortic injuries were detected in this series. The early mortality in our study was 2/29 in patients with sternal fractures and 1/7 in patients with widened mediastinum.
Conclusions:
Sternal fractures are more common than previously reported. An aggressive approach including early operative reduction is recommended even for a stable fracture to reduce the overhelming pain. Sternal fracture with or without retrosternal heamatoma is not a reliable indicator of cardiac and aortic injuries, while mediastinal widening is still a fairly reliable clue that should indicate further investigation. Copyright © 2001 Taylor and Francis Ltd. |
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Bibliography: | istex:D2A4595CCE75153DB4CE54AA179699B77A5AB7AB ark:/67375/WNG-XV4PHTRL-Q ArticleID:EJS264 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1102-4151 1741-9271 |
DOI: | 10.1080/110241501300091345 |