The Effect of a Chest CT Scan on the Treatment and Diagnosis of Major Blunt Chest Trauma

흉부 둔상환자에서 흉부전산화단층촬영이 진단과 치료에 미치는 영향

  • Park, Il-Hwan (Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine) ;
  • Oh, Joong-Hwan (Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine) ;
  • Lee, Chong-Kook (Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine)
  • 박일환 (연세대학교 원주의과대학 흉부외과학교실) ;
  • 오중환 (연세대학교 원주의과대학 흉부외과학교실) ;
  • 이종국 (연세대학교 원주의과대학 흉부외과학교실)
  • Published : 2009.04.05

Abstract

Background: Blunt chest trauma accounts for 90% of all chest traumas in Europe and the United States and this causes 20% of all trauma-related deaths. The major cause of morbidity and mortality after blunt chest trauma is undetected injuries. For this reason, chest computerized tomography has gained popularity for the evaluation of trauma, but it is expensive and it exposes patients to radiation. This study identified the clinical features associated with the diagnosic information obtained on a CT chest scan, as compared with a standard chest X-ray, for patients who sustained blunt trauma to the chest. This study also evaluated the role of a routine computed tomographic (CT) scan for these patients. The patients who had chest computed tomography done after the initial chest x-ray were analyzed separately for the presence of occult injuries. Material and Method: We studied 100 consecutive patients from November 2006 to July 2007: 74 patients after motor vehicle crashes and 26 patients after a fall from a height >2m. Simultaneous with the initial clinical evaluation, an anteroposterior chest radiograph and a helical chest CT scan were obtained for all the patients. The data extracted from the medical record included the vital signs, the interventions and the type and severity of injury (RTS). Result: Among the 100 cases, 79 patients showed at least more than one pathologic sign on their chest radiograph, and 21 patients had a normal chest radiograph. For 17 of the patients who had a normal chest X ray, the CT scan showed multiple injuries, which were pneumothorax, hemothorax, lung contusion, sternal fracture etc. This represents that a CT scan is statistically superior to a chest radiograph to diagnose the pathologic signs. But on the other hand, as for treatment, only 31 patients were diagnosed by CT scan and they were treated with chest tube insertion ect. 42 patients needed ony conservative management without invasive thoracosurgical treatment such as chest tube insertion or open thoracotomy. 27 patients were treated based on the diagnosis made by the chest radiograph and physical examination. Conclusion: Chest computerized tomography was significantly more effective than routine chest X-ray for detecting lung contusion, pneumothorax and mediastinal hematoma, as well as fractured ribs, scapula and, sternum. Although the occult findings increased, the number of patients who needed treatment was small. Therefore, we suggest making selective use of a CT scan to avoid its overuse in ERs.

배경: 흉부 둔상은 전체 흉부 손상의 90%정도를 차지하며 외상과 관련된 사망률의 20%를 유발시킨다. 흉분 둔상에 의한 손상 후 이환율과 사망률의 주요 원인은 발견되지 못한 손상이 남아있기 때문이다. 그리하여 흉부전산화단층 촬영은 외상환자의 진단적 검사에서 매우 자주 사용되어져 왔다. 그러나 흉부 컴퓨터 촬영은 가격이 비싸고, 방사선 노출을 증가시킬 수 있다. 이번 연구를 통하여 흉부둔상 환자에서 흉부단순촬영과 비교하여 흉부전산화단층촬영을 통하여 얼마나 더 많은 정보를 얻을 수 있는지 조사해 보고 그리고 흉부 컴퓨터 촬영의 진단과 치료에 있어서의 역할을 알아보고자 한다. 대상 및 방법: 2006년 11월부터 2007년 7월까지 응급실로 내원한 환자 100명을 대상으로 하였다. 이 중 74명의 자동차 관련사고 환자와 26명의 낙상 사고 환자가 있었으며 흉부엑스선과 흉부전산화단층 촬영을 동시에 시행한 환자를 전체 응급실 환자 중에 선택하였다. 자료는 차트를 통하여 혈역학적 소견, 중재적 치료 여부, 손상의 중증도(RTS)와 종류를 조사하였으며, 초기 응급실 내원환자 중 흉부단순촬영과 흉부전산화단층촬영을 시행한 환자를 대상으로 발견되지 못한 병적 소견을 각각 질환별로 분석하였다. 결과: 100예의 환자 중 흉부엑스선 검사상 하나 이상의 병적소견을 보인 환자가 79예였으며 21예의 환자에서는 흉부엑스선 검사상 정상 소견을 보였으며, 이 21예의 환자 중 17예에서 흉부전산화단층촬영상 이상소견이 발견되었다. 흉부엑스선 검사상 발견하지 못한 소견으로는 기흉, 혈흉, 폐좌상, 흉골 골절 등이 있었으며 이러한 병적 소견의 진단은 흉부전산화단층촬영이 흉부엑스선 검사보다 통계적으로 유의하게 우수한 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 치료에 있어서는 흉부전산화촬영 시행 후 발견된 병변으로 흉관삽입술등의 치료를 시행한 환자는 31명에 불과했고 흉관삽입술, 개흉술 등의 흉부외과적인 치료 없이 집중관찰을 위하여 입원한 환자가 42명이었으며, 흉부엑스선촬영과 환자의 이학적 소견으로 진단되어 치료를 시행한 환자가 27명이었다. 결론: 흉부전산화단층촬영은 진단에 있어서 흉부엑스선 촬영보다 통계적으로 의미 있게 진단에 도움이 되는 것을 알 수 있었으나 발견되지 못한 병변이 증가할지라도 치료의 변화와 방법의 변화가 있는 경우는 매우 소수에 불과했다. 그리하여 응급실에서의 흉부전산화단층촬영의 오남용을 막기 위하여 선별적인 흉부전산화단층 촬영을 고려해야 할 것이다.

Keywords

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