Chest trauma in the emergency service of Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital, Cuenca. Ecuador

Abstract

The article aims to publicize the epidemiological characteristics of thoracic trauma and its complications at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital. The research is based on a retrospective descriptive study, at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital from January to December 2013. The sample consisted of 268 patients. Variables were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and chi square. The SPSS version 1.8, Excel 2010 and Epidat 3.1 program was used. The results showed that in 2013 there were 268 chest traumas, average age 38 years, 72.4% were men, of the total were hospitalized 41. The ages between 18 to 79 years. The most frequent was closed trauma (57.3%), followed by penetrating chest trauma (36.6%) and chest wall wounds (9.7%). The trauma mechanism was wounded by a knife with (39%), traffic accident (24.4%), high altitude drop (22%), others (crushing). The main diagnoses were hemothorax 26.83%, pneumothorax 19.51%, hemoneumothorax 21.95%, pulmonary contusion 21.95%, and chest wall wound 9.76%. Thoracostomy was managed 92% and in 19.5% thoracotomy was performed at admission. Once the investigation was carried out, it could be concluded that in the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital in relation to chest trauma, it is comparable to other series in Latin America in terms of epidemiological characteristics.