• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 1997

Sixty children were admitted to he Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital for the treatment of thoracic injuries for about a 10year period ending in August, 1995. We reviewed the hospital records retrospectively, to see the characteristics of the scope and consequences of childhood chest injuries. Mean age was 9 years and forty-six cases(77%) were male. Fifty children(83%) were victims of a blunt trauma. Among the blunt trauma patients, more than 60% were traffic-related. All victims of penetrating trauma were male. Among the blunt trauma patients, rib fracture was the most frequently found (52%) followed by pneumothorax(42%), although significant intrathoracic injuries occurred without rib fractures in )2% of blunt trauma cases. Associated injuries were present in 42% of children reviewed. Most frequently performed surgical procedure was closed thoracostomy(45% ), and ten children required thoracotomy and fifteen needed assisted ventilation. Modified Injury Severi y Scale(MISS) score was measured in the multiple Injured group. MISS score correlated significantly with the length of stay In the intensive care unit. One child(1.7% ), involved in a traffic accident, died of sepsis.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2018

Purpose: The regional emergency medical centers manage the patients with major blunt trauma according to the process appropriate to each hospital rather than standardized protocol of the major trauma centers. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and influence on prognosis of additional cervical-thoracic-lumbar-spine computed tomography (CTL-spine CT) scan in diagnosis of spinal injury from the victim of major blunt trauma with impaired consciousness. Methods: The study included patients visited the urban emergency medical center with major blunt trauma who were over 18 years of age from January 2013 to December 2016. Data were collected from retrospective review of medical records. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were measured for evaluation of the performance of diagnostic methods. Results: One hundred patients with Glasgow coma scale ${\leq}13$ underwent additional CTL-spine CT scan. Mechanism of injury was in the following order: driver, pedestrian traffic accident, fall and passenger accident. Thirty-one patients were diagnosed of spinal injury, six of them underwent surgical management. The sensitivity of chest, abdomen and pelvis CT (CAP CT) was 72%, specificity 97%, false positive rate 3%, false negative rate 28% and diagnostic accuracy 87%. Eleven patients were not diagnosed of spinal injury with CAP CT and C-spine lateral view, but all of them were diagnosed of stable fractures. Conclusions: C-spine CT scan be actively considered in the initial examination process. When CAP CT scan is performed in major blunt trauma patients with impaired consciousness, CTL-spine CT scan or simple spinal radiography has no significant effect on the prognosis of the patient and can be performed if necessary.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.226-232
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• 2009

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.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1167-1173
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• 1995

We evaluated fifty three cases of traumatic diaphragmatic injuries that we have experienced from Jan.1973 to Oct.1994. The age distribution of the pateint was ranged from 1 to 74 years. Sex ratio is 39:14 with male dominence. The traumatic diaphragmatic injuries were due to blunt trauma in 37[Left 22, Right 15 cases and penetrating trauma in 16[Left 9, Right 7 cases. In blunt trauma, Preoperative diagnosis of the diaphragmatic injuries was possible in 27 patients[72% , and in penetrating trauma, 14 patients[88% . Among 37 in blunt traumas, 22[58% cases, and among 16 in penetrating traumas, 13[88% cases were operated within 24 hours. The most common herniated abdominal organ in the thorax was stomach[14/53 . The traumatic diaphragmatic repair of 50 cases were performed by thoracic approach in 23 cases, thoracoabdominal approach in 8 cases and abdominal approach in 19 cases, and in 3 cases, not operated. Hospital mortality [including not operated patients[3 was 17%[9/53 and the causes of death were intracranial hematoma[1 , hypertensive encephalopathy[1 and asphyxia[1 , and among operated patients[6 , combined head injury[2 , multiorgan failure[2 , hypovolemic shock[1 , and pulmonary edema & renal failure[1 . All deaths had related to the severity of associated injuries.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.308-312
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• 1995

A 5-year retrospective study of 14 patients with diaphragmatic injuries revealed 9 blunt and 5 penetrating injuries. In the blunt trauma group, 7 were left and 2 were right side. The penetrating diaphragmatic wound consist of 3 left and 2 right sided. Sex ratio was 11: 3, with male predominanace. Preoperative diagnosis was possible in 9 cases and delayed diagnosis [greater than 24 hours occured in 5 cases.Simple chest X-ray was diagnostic or highly suggestive in 7 cases. 7 cases were diagnosed diaphragmatic injuries by computed tomography, fiuroscopy or by explorative operation. All of the cases had association injury. 11 cases of diaphragmatic ruptures were corrected through thoracotomy and 3 cases needed exploratory laparotomy. One death occured after operation due to associated injuries and respiratory failure. Blunt and penetrating diaphragmatic injuries remain a diagnostic challenge and associated injuries, delayed diagnosis determine the outcome.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.214-216
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• 2015

Blunt abdominal trauma may cause peripheral vascular injuries. However, blunt abdominal trauma rarely results in injuries to the external iliac and common femoral arteries, which often stem from regional bone fractures. Here, we present the case of a patient who had experienced trauma in the lower abdominal and groin area three months before presenting to the hospital, but these injuries did not involve bone fractures and had been managed conservatively. The patient came to the hospital because of left lower leg claudication that gradually became severe. Computed tomography angiography confirmed total occlusion of the external iliac and common femoral arteries. The patient underwent femorofemoral bypass grafting and was discharged uneventfully.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.242-247
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• 2021

Purpose: Blunt cardiac injuries (BCI) have a wide clinical spectrum, ranging from asymptomatic myocardial contusion to cardiac rupture and death. BCIs rarely require surgical intervention, but can be rapidly fatal, requiring prompt evaluation and surgical treatment in some cases. The aim of this study was to identify potential factors associated with in-hospital mortality after surgery in patients with BCI. Methods: The medical records of 15 patients who had undergone emergency cardiac surgery for BCI between January 2014 and August 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. We included trauma patients older than 18 years admitted to Regional Trauma Center, Gachon University Gil Medical Center during the study period. Clinical and laboratory variables were compared between survivors and non-survivors. Results: Non-survivors showed a significantly higher Injury Severity Score (p=0.001) and Abbreviated Injury Scale in the chest region (p=0.001) than survivors. American Association for the Surgery of Trauma-Organ Injury Scale Grade V injuries were significantly more common in non-survivors than in survivors (p=0.031). Non-survivors had significantly more preoperative packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusions (p=0.019) and were significantly more likely to experience preoperative cardiac arrest (p=0.001) than survivors. Initial pH (p=0.010), lactate (p=0.026), and base excess (BE; p=0.026) levels showed significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions: Initial pH, lactate, BE, ventricular injury, the amount of preoperative PRBC transfusions, and preoperative cardiac arrest were potential predictors of in-hospital mortality.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1023-1026
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• 1994

We reviewed 10 cases of traumatic diaphragmatic injuries at Soonchunhyang University Gumi Hospital from January 1990 through April 1993. seven patients were male and three patients were female. The age distribution was ranged from 25 to 79 years, predominant 4th decades occurred in male. The traumatic diaphragmatic injuries were due to blunt trauma in 9 cases (traffic accident 7 and crash injury 2) and penetrating wound in 1 case (stab wound). The common symptom were dyspnea (60%), chest pain and abdominal pain in order frequency. In the blunt trauma and crash injury, te rupture site was all located in the left(9 cases). In the penetrating wound, the rupture site was located in the right(1 case). The surgical repair of 10 cases were performed with transthoracic approach in 9 cases and thoracoabodominal approach in 1 case. The postoperative mortality was 10% (1/10). The cause of death was multiple organ failure with pulmonary edema.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.255-261
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• 1998

A clinical evaluation was performed on 11 cases of the cardiac rupture by blunt chest trauma at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Yeungnam University Hospital during the period from July, 1993 to May, 1995. The results were as follows ; The sex distribution was 8 mem and one women, and mean age was 41 years old. The causes of accident was traffic accident in most cases. And then one case was cultivator accident and another one was fall down. The average times from trauma to admission was 139 minutes and the patients that transferred via other hospitals have relatively long average times to 227 minutes. The average times from admission to operation was 117 minutes and we consumed 25 minutes for the preoperative preparation. The sites of injury were 7 cases in the right heart and 3 cases in the left heart. There were symptoms and signs of the cardiac tamponade(dyspnea, chest pain, nausea/vomitus, neck vein distention & hypovolemic shock) at admission and in most of them typical symptoms and signs of a tamponade appeared. Surgical approach was performed with median sternotomy in 10 cases. Subxiphoid pericardial window was created in one case. Another case which was very difficult in surgical procedure was operated under cardiopulmonary bypass and the result was good.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.633-635
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• 2008

Cardiac rupture after blunt chest trauma is a relatively uncommon diagnosis, and it is associated with a very high mortality rate. A 41-years-old man crashed his car into a guardrail and he was then transported to hospital. Although unstable vital signs are the most common symptoms of cardiac injury, this patient had stable vital signs. The chest CT scan showed pericardial effusion, and echocardiography did not clearly reveal cardiac tamponade, but the right atrium was slightly collapsed. Cardiac injury was suspected, and surgery was commenced for obtaining the diagnosis and treatment. A 2cm laceration at the junction of the left atrium and the lefl inferior pulmonary vein was discovered and this was repaired with $4{\sim}0$ Polypropylne monofilament sutures. We report here on the successful management of a patient with left atrial rupture following blunt chest trauma.