Manejo del trauma de tórax y características demográficas, Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso. Cuenca – Ecuador.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the management of chest trauma at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital and describe the demographic characteristics of the population studied. Method: It is a retrospective, descriptive study, the sample was 167 patients treated in the Emergency service at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital, who were diagnosed with thoracic trauma during the period January 2013 to June 2015; Data were obtained from medical records. Demographic variables and treatment data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and chi square. The SPSS program, version 18, and Excel 2010 were used. Results: The average age was 37 years, with high frequency in men 84.4%. The diagnoses were: 36.53% hemothorax, pneumothorax 25.75%, and 27.54% hemopneumothorax. The 4.8% of patients received nonsurgical treatment, 82.6% pleural drainage; a 12.6% thoracotomy was performed at the moment to arrive. The 19.8% thoracotomy was performed during hospital stay due to complications such as coagulated or residual hemothorax. The mortality was 5.4% (9 patients), 7 had extra- thoracic injuries. Conclusions: Chest trauma occurs in high percentage in the third decade of life and it mostly was resolved with pleural drainage. Extra thoracic injuries increase mortality and need a multidisciplinary approach.