37. Thoracic Trauma Flashcards
Key thoracic trauma emergencies – list five
Cardiac tamponade, tension, pneumothorax, airway obstruction, uncontrolled haemorrhage
Define flail chest
Three or more adjacent ribs are fractured at two points, allowing a free segment of chest wall to move in a paradoxical motion
What ribs are most common to break?
4–9
What ribs have specific concern for associated intra-abdominal injury, liver injury, or splenic injury?
9 to 11
Right sided, left sided
What is a paradoxical movement in flail chest?
Chest wall moves in on inspiration and out on expiration, product of negative intrathoracic pressure and is secured if the patient has been intubated or is receiving positive pressure ventilation
In your differential diagnosis for rib factors, what are particularly concerning differential?
Trachea bronchial injury, Umax, hemothorax, diaphragmatic injury, cardiovascular injury, like a contusion or aortic injury, oesophageal injury
Nexus CT criteria for chest CT after Blunt, trauma, list criteria
Abnormal chest, x-ray, rapid deceleration mechanism as a fall greater than 20 feet or motor vehicle collision greater than 40 mph, distracting, painful injury, chest wall, tenderness, sternal, tenderness, thoracic, spine, tenderness, scapular tenderness
Single rib fracture management
Opioid and non-opioid analgesia
Multiple rib fracture treatment
Opioid a non-opioid medication, intercostal nerve blocks, patient controlled, algesia, thoracic epidural
Flail segment management
Management as per multiple rib, fractures, consultation with trauma or thoracic surgeon for query surgical intervention
Indications for open fixation of flail chest
Patients who cannot be weaned from the ventilator secondary to mechanics of flail chest, persistent pain, severe chest, while instability or progressive decline and pulmonary function
How long does it take most rib fractures to heal?
3 to 6 weeks
How long should patients be observed for after thoracic trauma and rib fractures?
If not to be admitted, 12 to 24 hours to ensure that occult vascular or intrapulmonary injuries are not present and then consider for discharge
What is a common mechanism of sternal fractures and dislocations?
Enter Blunt chest trauma by MVC or bicycle accident when the chest strikes the steering wheel or handlebars
Risk factors for sternal fracture from blunt trauma
Vehicular passenger restraint system, and patient age as restrained passengers are more likely to sustain a fracture
Treatment for sternal fractures
Adequate analgesia like for rib, fractures, isolated, sternal, fractures with adequate pain control on oral medication’s can go home. They cannot go home if they have severe pain and develop respiratory compromise or nonunion.
Treatment for sternal fractures
Adequate analgesia like for rib, fractures, isolated, sternal, fractures with adequate pain control on oral medication’s can go home. They cannot go home if they have severe pain and develop respiratory compromise or nonunion.
Examples of non-penetrating ballistic injury
Rubber bullets by police, beanbag shotgun shells
What organs are particularly vulnerable to non-penetrating ballistic injury?
Kinetic energy can still be high: heart, liver, spleen, lung, spinal cord
When my patients with a non-penetrating ballistic injury need further imaging?
Meet CT Nexus rules or concern for retained foreign body, symptoms of rib fracture, pneumothorax, hemothorax, intrapleural, or peritoneal penetration
How long should a patient with superficial non-penetrating ballistic injury to the chest be observed for?
4 to 6 hours
What are common mechanisms of pulmonary contusions?
MVC with rapid deceleration, high velocity missile, high energy, shockwaves of an explosion in air water
What are common mechanisms of pulmonary contusions?
MVC with rapid deceleration, high velocity missile, high energy, shockwaves of an explosion in air water
Why are some of the worst pulmonary contusions in patients without rib fractures?
Example: children as more elastic chest wall transmits increased force to the thorax
On chest x-ray or imaging when do you typically see pulmonary contusion present?
Begin to appear within minutes and range from Apache, irregular alveolar, infiltrate to Frank consolidation, or almost always present within six hours
Pulmonary contusion needs to be differentiated from ARDS. What indicates a more likely contusion?
Localized to a segment or a lobe, often apparent on the initial chest study intends to last 48 to 72 hours
Pulmonary contusion needs to be differentiated from ARDS. What indicates a more likely contusion?
Localized to a segment or a lobe, often apparent on the initial chest study intends to last 48 to 72 hours
What scan is very helpful for a pulmonary contusion?
Ct
What scan is very helpful for a pulmonary contusion?
Ct
How to manage pulmonary contusion
Primarily supportive
How to manage pulmonary contusion
Primarily supportive
What is the pneumothorax and what are the three types?
Accumulation of air in the plural space, one simple, two communicating, three tension
Simple PTX defn
no communication with atmosphere or any shift in mediastinum or hemidiaphragm
Communicating ptx defn
assoc defect in chest wall, typically combat injuries like GSW
How can a communicating pneumothorax be described as a sucking chest wound?
loss of chest wall integrity causes involved lung to paradoxically collapse on inspiration and expand on expiration to force air out of the wound
this causes large functional dead space for normal lung with loss of ventilation of involved lung
Tension ptx defn
progressive accumulation of air under pressure within pleural cavity, shift of mediastinum to opp hemithorax and compression of contralateral lungand great vessels
Why does a tension ptx cause so much issue?
one way valve - air in, can’t get out with expiration
can lead to compression of SVC, distorting cavoatrial junction so heart can’t fill
Cardinal signs of a tension ptx
tachycardia, hypotensin, oxyhbg desat, JVD, absent breath sounds on ipsilatearl side
Initial test for ptx - CXR needs to be done in what pos?
upright full inspiratory film as air tends to collect at apex of the lung
List 9 indications for a tube thoracostomy
- traumatic cause of ptx (unless asymptomatic, apical)
- moderate to large ptx
- resp sx regardless of size
- increasing side of ptx after conservative therapy
- Pt requiring ventilator support
- assoc hemothorax
- Pt RQ general anesthesia
- bilat pneumothorax regardless of size
- tension ptx
How to insert a CT for a pneumothorax:
- Landmark 4-5th IC site at mid axillary line, top of rib
- Clean and prep
- Scalpel
- Kelly’s to dissect
- finger sweep to ensure in lung, no adhesion
- 36-40F tube in adults, kids 16-32 all holes in
- Connect to machine, turn on suction if large hemothorax or air leak