Southern medical journal
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Southern medical journal · May 1991
Management of the asymptomatic patient with a stab wound to the chest.
We 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 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.