Tomographic postoperative findings in patients with thoracic trauma

Abstract

Introduction: The thoracic trauma is among the first causes of death, fundamentally in young people. Objectives: To characterize a population operated due to thoracic trauma according to clinical epidemiological variables and describe the postsurgical tomographic findings. Methods: An observational and descriptive study of 48 patients assisted in the Radiology Service of Saturnino Lora Teaching Clinical Surgical Provincial Hospital was carried out in Santiago de Cuba, from January, 2016 to December, 2018, to whom a multidetector computed tomography was carried out. Results: The thoracic traumas prevailed in young male people, fundamentally associated with violent actions that caused open traumas. The lung contusion was the most frequent initial tomographic finding, as long as, the persistent pneumothorax and the coagulated hemothorax constituted the most influential tomographic findings in the decision of a surgical reintervention. Conclusions: Tomography is a diagnostic means that allows a detailed description of the postoperative state in the affected organs, with a high orientative value to decide later surgical procedures.

Keywords

• traumatismos torácicos
• contusión pulmonar
• neumotórax
• hemotórax coagulado
• reoperación
• tomografía computarizada multidetector.