Related Experiment Videos
Stab wounds to the pericardium and heart: an analysis of 85 consecutive patients
L A Böstman1, J A Salo, O M Böstman
1I Department of Surgery, University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
Objective:
To audit all stab wounds of the pericardium and heart treated by a policy of immediate exploration over a period of 17 years, and identify any factors predictive of outcome.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Urban referral centre.
Subjects:
85 consecutive patients with stab wounds of pericardium and heart.
Interventions:
Immediate exploration.
Main Outcome Measures:
Mortality and morbidity.
Results:
Eleven patients died (13%), 10 of them on the operating table. No powerful predictor of outcome was identified, but measurable blood pressure on admission (p = 0.04) and a low cardiac trauma index score (p = 0.07) seemed to be associated with survival.
Conclusion:
Some unrecordable factors--for example, the skill of the team on duty--may have had a considerable influence on outcome.