Abstract:

Objective: Only a few studies in the literature have evaluated chest injuries accompanying blunt spinal trauma. We aimed to evaluate chest injuries observed concomitantly with spine injuries as well as reveal their clinical importance. Materials and Methods: Eighty-eight patients, who were treated and followed up by the authors after being admitted to the emergency department because of severe blunt spinal trauma, were evaluated retrospectively. Results: Data from a total of 55 patients [30 (54.5%) male and 25 (45.5%) female] who met the study criteria were included. The mean age of patients was 58±15.8. Falling from height was the most common cause of trauma in 32 patients (58.2%) and was significantly more frequent than other causes such as traffic accident, assault, non-vehicle traffic accident, and motorcycle accident (p<0.001). Spinal fracture was observed in 38 patients with severe blunt spinal trauma (69.1%), while ligament and other soft tissue damage was found in 17 patients (30.9%). Spinal fractures were significantly more frequent in the thoracic vertebra (n=28; 50.9%) compared to other regions such as the cervical and lumbar spine (p<0.001). It was observed that chest injury accompanied 33 (60%) patients who experienced blunt spinal trauma. When the thoracic region was classified as per injured tissues; rib fracture (n=10; 30.3%) and pulmonary contusion (n=6; 18.2%) were observed most frequently. Conclusion: Patients with thoracic spinal fractures should be considered at a high risk for chest injury, and this group of patients should be prioritized because of the possible life-threatening complications. In our study, we concluded that the rate of falling from height increased in the elderly group, as well as neurological losses. Moreover, the rate of neurological deficit following thoracic vertebral damage due to falling from height kept increasing, especially in the elderly group.

Keywords: