Abstract

Background
Recently, the number of patients with the thorax or neck trauma has increased due to traffic accidents, industrial disasters, incidental accidents, and violence. Most of the thorax or neck injuries can be managed with conservative methods and simple surgical procedures, but an open thoracotomy or exploration will be necessary in emergent cases. Traumas to the thorax and the neck have an extremely poor prognosis when not diagnosed and treated early. Therefore, we analyzed the results of emergent operations in patients with thorax or neck trauma and their clinical courses. Methods: A clinical evaluation was performed on 56 patients treated with emergent operations for thorax or neck trauma from January 1997 to July 2003 according to their medical records. Results: There were 45 males and 11 females. The mean age was 36.1 years. The modes ofinjury were as follows: traffic accidents 14 cases, stab wounds 27 cases, industrial disasters 7 cases, and others 8 cases. The annual distribution of cases was as follows: 1997 year 9 cases, 1998 year 6 cases, 1999 year 7 cases, 2000 year 10 cases, 2001 10 cases, 2002 6 cases and 2003 8 cases. The injured organs were 13 cases of a ruptured diaphragm, 12 cases of a ruptured lung, 7 cases of a ruptured heart, 2 case of a ruptured aorta, 9 cases of a simple vessel ruptured and 4 cases of a ruptured esophagus and trachea. There were 9 (16%) overall deaths: 6 cases in deaths among the blunt-trauma cases and 3 deaths among the stab injury cases. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and surgical treatment is essential for thorax or neck trauma, to decrease the mortality and complications. Therefore, careful diagnostic procedure, appropriate preoperative management for hypovolemia, and early surgical treatment are essential. The setup an of emergency operation system should be considered as a reform measure.

• Keywords: Trauma, Thorax, Neck