Prof. Mohammad Mohammad Mohammad Saffan :: Publications:

Road traffic accidents (RTA) and Thoracic trauma is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In this retrospective study, we present our three year experience in the management and clinical outcome of 1700 cases with chest trauma associated with blunt and penetrating injuries in two tertiary centers (in Egypt and Saudi Arabia). In 66% of the cases, blunt injury mostly related to traffic accidents was the cause of chest trauma. Additional organ injuries were found in 45% (n=766). Conservative treatment was administered for most patients. Tube thoracostomy was inserted in 82.2% of all cases, whereas thoracotomy was performed in 9% (n=156). The morbidity rate in all victims was 22.2%. The mortality rate was 2.1% of all patients, all were blunt trauma with associated other injuries. Mortality and injury severity score (ISS) increased in patients having early surgery. Although most patients could be managed with conservative approaches, early thoracotomy was required in some cases. We believe that urgent hospital admission, early diagnosis, and multidisciplinary approach are very important to improve outcome.