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Published on: August 28, 2018
Management of computed tomography scan detected hemothorax in blunt chest trauma: What computed tomography scan
Mahdi Malekpour1, Kenneth Widom1, James Dove1
1Department of Surgery, Section of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA 17822, United States.
Aim:
To investigate the hemothorax size for which tube thoracostomy is necessary.
Methods:
Over a 5-year period, we included all patients who were admitted with blunt chest trauma to our level 1 trauma center. Focus was placed on identifying the hemothorax size requiring tube thoracostomy.
Results:
A total number of 274 hemothoraces were studied. All patients with hemothoraces measuring above 3 cm received a chest tube. The 50% predicted probability of tube thoracostomy was 2 cm. Pneumothorax was associated with odds of receiving tube thoracostomy for hemothoraces below 2 cm (Odds Ratio: 4.967, 95%CI: 2.225-11.097, P < 0.0001).
Conclusion:
All patients with a hemothorax size greater than 3% underwent tube thoracostomy. Prospective studies are warranted to elucidate the clinical outcome of patients with smaller hemothoraces.
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