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Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Trauma, Acute, Education, Diagnostic procedure, Decision analysis, CT, Conventional radiography, Thorax, Emergency
Authors:
G. Ironi1, A. Esposito1, R. Nicoletti1, F. De Cobelli1, R. Faccincani1, C. Martinenghi2, M. Carlucci1, A. Del Maschio1; 1Milan/IT, 2Milano/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2014/C-1117
Background
Injuries of the thorax are the third most common injuries in trauma patients,
next to injuries of the head and extremities 1.
Furthermore the presence of thoracic injuries in the setting of multisystemic trauma can significantly increase patient mortality.
More than two-thirds of cases of blunt thoracic trauma in developed countries are caused by motor vehicle collisions.
The remaining cases are the result of falls or of blows from blunt object 1.
In addition to this,
there are also penetrating injuries to the chest resulting from stabbing or gunshot wounds.
The main purpose in trauma care is the maximum concentration of time,
which has a great impact on the results in terms of resuscitation and safety.
In particular,
the use of imaging modalities in the management of polytraumatized patients allows faster identification of injuries,
which is crucial for the primary diagnostic work-up and the assessment of potential treatment.
In this educational exhibit we review the radiographic and CT findings of several thoracic injuries founded in traumatized patients.
All the presented images were obtained from the archives of our institution during the last year.