[Penetrating thoracic injuries--a 10 year analysis of 179 patients]

179 patients with penetrating chest wall and thoracic injuries were treated at the University Hospital "Rudolf Virchow" in Berlin between 1982 and 1992. Most patients (72.4%) were successfully treated with closed tube thoracostomy alone. 33 (18.4%) patients required thoracotomy, 14 (7.8%) due to injury of the great vessels and 15 (8.3%) due to cardiac injuries. In 10 (5.5%) patients also abdominal organs were compromised, so that also a laparotomy had to be done. Seven (3.9%) patients died. All but one patients who died, died in the OR or within 24 h of admission. So lethality in the group of cardiac wounds was 44.6% (7 out of 15). This underlines the necessity of most rapid transport to the hospital in case of thoracic injury.