Blunt Thoracic Injury Mortality and Clinical Presentation

Blunt thoracic trauma is the third most common injury in poly-trauma patients following head and extremities injuries; this study aimed to assess the prevalence of blunt chest trauma and its injury pattern, mechanism of injury, length of hospital stay, treatment period, and risk factors.

In this cross-sectional study, 7,410 patients, who referred to Shahid Rajaee hospital, during years 2010 to 2014 were selected through census sampling. The participants’ demographic data, mechanism of injury, type of thoracic injury, location of fracture, length of stay, and injury severity scores (ISS) were recorded.

Most patients were male (5498, 74.2%), 63.3% were 15 to 40 years old, and their mean age was 37.53 ± 0.21 years. The most commonly reported mechanism of injury was car accident (2,999, 40.5%) followed by falls (1,529, 20.6%, and motorbike accidents (964, 13.1%). Head, neck and thorax injuries were most common comorbidities in thorax trauma patients. The mortality rate was 1.5%. Indeed, the patients, who had rib fracture (P = 0.01) (OR3.66, CI [1.36 - 9.82]), and multiple injuries of thorax (P < 0.001) (OR 8.10, CI [3.21 - 20.73]), had a higher mortality risk.

The risk of blunt thoracic injuries was higher among specific types of injuries. Additionally, patients with blunt chest trauma, who had the risk factors of mortality required preventative measures and careful management in order to prevent traumarelated deaths.