• P F Brown, C P Larsen, and P N Symbas.
• Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
• South. Med. J. 1991 May 1;84(5):591-3.

AbstractWe prospectively studied 126 asymptomatic patients who had a total of 144 stab wounds (average size, 2 cm) to the chest to determine their need for hospitalization. Their average age was 32 years; 102 of them were men. Four left against medical advice. The remaining 122 patients were judged to be asymptomatic when inspiratory and expiratory chest roentgenograms, recorded serially over a 24-hour period, revealed no intrathoracic trauma. Subcutaneous air was found in five of the patients, and an aorto-right ventricular fistula was found in one patient during his follow-up visit to the clinic a week later. The fistula was repaired uneventfully. No late-developing complications were detected in a review of the charts a year later. We believe a patient with a stab wound to the chest but with no evidence of intrathoracic injury may be appropriately managed with limited observation, including serial inspiratory and expiratory roentgenograms of the chest.

14 keywords...

hide…