Our surgical approach to the patients with blunt and penetrating head and neck trauma and its evaluation

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate our surgical approach to the blunt and penetrating head and neck trauma cases.Methods: Twenty-seven patients who were operated for head and neck trauma at Uluda¤ University Faculty of Medicine, between January 1997 and January 2008, and whose registries were available were examined retrospectively.Results: The etiology in nine of the patients was firearm injury, 14 of them were stab wounds, 4 of them had traffic accidents outside the vehicle and other causes (suicide, traffic accidents inside the car etc.). None of the patients had early mortality after the surgery.Conclusion: Both blunt and penetrating neck traumas may require immediate intervention. Diversity of the traumatized organs in the neck, most of which are related to otolaryngology, necessitates the presence of a well trained head and neck surgeon in the team.

Keywords

• neck trauma
• exploration