Evidence-Based Pearls: Chest Trauma

Abstract

The challenge in caring for patients who sustain traumatic chest injuries centers on their complex needs from high acuity and the potential for multisystem effects and complications. Hemorrhage and respiratory compromise are common sequela of thoracic trauma. Patients must be resuscitated and their injuries managed with the primary goals of restoring cardiopulmonary structural integrity and preventing complications. There are evolving strategies for the management of the thoracic trauma victim including damage control resuscitation and surgery, endovascular repairs, and assessments implementing severity scores to aid in planning interventions.

Keywords: Chest/thoracostomy tube; Damage control surgery and resuscitation; Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT); Flail chest; Hemothorax; Pneumothorax; Thoracic endovascular aortic repair.