Aims and objectives
Both blunt and penetrating neck trauma may result in carotid arterial injury,
including vessel laceration,
dissection,
occlusion,
fistula,
or pseudoaneurysm formation.
Traumatic internal carotid artery injury is associated with a mortality of up to 40%,
with up to 45% of survivors demonstrating a residual neurological deficit.
It was our aim in this study to review the literature on blunt force injury to the neck resulting in injuries that have the appearance of penetrating traumatic injuries and to provide an illustratory example of such a case....
Methods and materials
We present the illustratory case of a36 year old mixed martial arts (MMA) cage fighter who presented to the emergency department with shortness of breath.
He had received a blunt trauma to the neck from a kick in an MMA fight.
Physical examination revealed that he was tachypnoeic with a respiratory rate of 22 breaths per minute and hypoxia with oxygen saturations of 89%.
Asymmetrical swelling of the right neck soft tissues was present as was a large right upper chest haematoma.
A right sided...
Results
The authorsreviewed the literature on blunt forcetrauma resulting in carotid arterial injury on Pubmed and Embase from 1970 to date in the English language.
Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) describes a spectrum of carotid arterial intimal injuries.
These may occur as the result of direct trauma or intimal stress from neck rotation.
BCVI occurs in approximately 1%(0.18-2.7%) of blunt trauma cases and may affect multiple vessels (18-23%) with a 70% association with cervical spine fractures.
A review of 82 patients with carotid arterial trauma in 1995...
Conclusion
MMA is an increasingly popular pasttime particularly in the young adult male demographic.
Promotion of MMA by various sources has led to a vast increase in the number of young people taking up the sport.
This however,
has not been met with a commensurate increase in the awareness for potential for serious injury whilst participating in the sport.
It is likely that radiologistswill see more of this in the years to come.
In blunt trauma to the neck in young patients presenting with asymmetrical neck...
Personal information
1.
Dr.
ShaneM.
Crilly,
Surgical registrar,
Royal Perth Hospital,
Wellington Street,
Perth,
Western Australia 6012
2.
Dr.
Eileen McElroy,
Medical RMO,
Fiona Stanley Hospital,
Perth,
Western Australia
3.
Dr.
Jonathan Ryan,
Consultant Radiologist,
Sligo General Hospital,
Republic of Ireland
4.
Professor Leo P.
Lawler,
Consultant Radiologist,
Mater Misercordiae University Hospital,
Eccles Street,
Dublin 8,
Republic of Ireland
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Sliker CW.
Blunt cerebrovascular injuries: imaging with multidetector CT angiography.
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Lam DL et al.Pre-operative CT angiography and three-dimensional image post processing for deep inferior epigastric perforator flap breast reconstructive surgery.British Journal of...