Acta Chir Belg
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Of the 157 cases of chest injuries, 41 patients underwent thoracotomy. Thirty-three were male and 7 female with an average age of 27 years. Eighty-three percent had stabwounds and 17 percent gunshotwounds. ⋯ The only patient who died in our series suffered from septicemia after multiple associated intra-abdominal wounds (mortality rate 2.4%). The overall complication rate was 19.7%. The average period of hospitalisation was 15.4 days.