The Netherlands journal of surgery
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The records of 71 patients treated for sternal fracture were reviewed: 52 patients sustained isolated sternal fracture, 19 patients had a sternal fracture in combination with multiple other injuries, with in 12 patients only rib fractures. Forty-one patients were involved in a car accident, 29 of them used safety belts. Three patients (3/71, 4%) died, two multitrauma patients, in whom artificial ventilation was necessary, died of multiple organ failure. ⋯ The prognosis of an isolated sternal fracture is good. Cardiac contusion was an uncommon complication of sternal fracture. Clinical observation for only a short period is advised.