A clinical analysis was performed on 383 cases of chest injuries experienced at Department of Thoracic Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital during 21 year period from 1957 to 1977.
Of 383 patients of chest injuries, 209 cases were result from nonpenetrating injuries whereas 175 were from penetrating injuries, and there were 258 cases of hemothorax or/and pneumothorax, 162 of rib fracture, 33 of foreign body, 26 of clavicle fracture, 25 of lung contusion, 17 of diaphragmatic laceration, 14 of hemopericardium, 14 of flail chest and others.
Stab wound was the most common in penetrating injuries and followed by gunshot and shell fragments. The majority of nonpenetrating chest injury patients were traffic accident victims and falls accounted for the next largest group of accidents.
Chest injuries were frequently encountered in the age group between 16 and 50 years, and 321 patients were male comparing to 62 of female.
In blunt chest injuries the patients with five of more rib fractures had a 85 per cent incidence of intrathoracic injury and 19 per cent had an intraabdominal organ damage, whereas those with four or less ri fractures had a 69 per cent and a 6 per cent incidence respectively.
The principal associated injuries were cerebral contusion on 19 cases, renal contusion on 10, liver laceration on 7, peripheral vessel laceration on 5, spleen laceration on 3 and extremity fracture on 18 patients.
The principles of therapy for early complications of chest trauma were rapid reexpasion of the lungs by thoracentesis (46 cases) and closed thoracotomy (125 cases) but open thoracotomy had to be done on 90 cases (23.5%) because of massive bleeding or intrapleural hematoma, foreign body, cardiac injurry, diaphragmatic laceration and bronchial repture.
The over all mortality was 2.87 per cent (11 among 383 cases), 8 cases were from penetrating injuries and 3 from nonpenetrating injuries.
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