[Penetrating injuries of the neck, injury pattern and diagnostic algorithm]

Penetrating neck injuries are potentially life-threatening injuries. Management is controversial despite decades of discussion in the literature. An algorithm for diagnosis and therapy is needed because of the potential risk of mortality. In the Department of Trauma Surgery of Vienna Medical School, mandatory surgical exploration after noninvasive investigations is practiced. Thirty-one patients with this kind of injury were treated between August 1992 and September 1999. Injuries were caused in seven cases by gunshots, in eight cases by broken glass, in one case by an iron rod, in one case by a spear, in one case by a branch and in 13 cases the penetrating injuries were stab wounds caused by knives. Complications like pseudoaneurysms and fistulas were not seen. No patient came to death.