[Assessment of thoracic trauma at the 1st Department of Surgery in Brno (1 January 2011 - 31 December 2015)]

The number of cases of thorax injury increased steadily between 2011 and 2015. This is probably related to a more active lifestyle of the younger generations and also to the increasing average age of citizens. The aim of the study was to show problems connected with thorax injury.

Our retrospective study evaluated a group of patients with thoracic injury (diagnosis codes S20-S29) in the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 who were treated in our Department.

We evaluated a group of 1,697 patients with thoracic injury were divided into five subgroups: 1) simple contusion of the thorax, 2) simple rib fractures, 3) contusion of the thorax with vertebral fractures, 4) serial, multiple rib fractures, 5) stab and gunshot injuries of the thorax. Each subgroup was analyzed independently and in detail. The number of thoracic injuries increased steadily, year on year. More than 40% of the patients were older than 60 years. In the group with simple rib fractures, the authors found 14 cases of pneumothorax (5.1%), which was drained in only 8 cases. The most common complications in the serial rib fractures group included pneumothorax (33 cases, 20%), hemothorax (28 cases, 16.9%) and lung contusion (15 cases, 9%). Stabilization of the thoracic wall was performed 16 times, out of the total of 26 multiple rib fracture cases (61.5%).

Thorax injury is routinely encountered by surgeons. The authors recommend to pay particular attention not only to serious, but also to simple thorax injuries in very old patients, for instance those on anticoagulation therapy. Adequate caution also needs to be taken with serial rib fractures and flail chest and their treatment.Key words: thorax injury - rib fractures - hemothorax - pneumothorax.