A twelve-year survey of cervicothoracic vascular injuries

This study of a large series of victims of trauma to the cervicothoracic great vessels confirms the lethal potential of these injuries: more than half of victims of such injuries died. The optimal management of patients potentially harboring such vascular damage appears to include skilled prehospital resuscitation and rapid transport to a trauma center, a high index of diagnostic suspicion, a low threshold for the performance of contrast arteriography, aggressive surveillance for associated neurologic and aerodigestive tract injuries, and timely technical repair, including liberal indications for sternotomy or thoracotomy to assure vascular control.