Clinical features and early management of combined thoracoabdominal injury / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the clinical features and early management of combined thoracoabdominal injury (CTI).Methods A retrospective study was carried out in 29 cases with CTI treated surgically.There were 21 cases with penetrating injuries and 8 cases with blunt injuries.All cases were associated with penumothorax and/or hernothorax at various degrees and 13 cases complicated with shock.In this study thoracotomy was performed in 17 cases,laparotomy in 6 cases,thoracotomy plus laparotomy in 5 cases and combined thoraco-laparotomy in 1 case.Results The injury severity score in this series was (40.16±15.23) scores.Four cases were died from hemorrhagic shock (2 cases),pericardial tampenade(1 case) and multiple organ failure(1 case).Conclusions CTI has high mortality rate,and the most frequent cause of death is hypovolemic shock.The operative approach is based on individual injury condition.Early diagnosis and timely surgical intervention are key to improving the cure rate and reducing mortality in severe CTI.