The Study of the Patients with Thorax Injury in Kermanshah Truma Center (2002-5)

Introduction: One cause of death among people aged under 40 is trauma which in increasing mainly because of increase in use of vehicles. There has been an increase in trauma and its mortality worldwide, resulting in lost of life years due to the consequent disabilities. However, we can prevent the mortality & complications due to trauma in particular, thorax trauma through intense & urgent care. The present study examines the causes of trauma as well as ,methods and results of the treatments of patients with thorax injury in Taleghani Trauma center in Kermanshah.

Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study , the sample consisted of 630 patients with thorax injury who had been hospitalized in  Taleghani Truma Center in a period starting from April 2002 to March 2005.  Using a objective-based check list, the data was gathered from the  patients' file as to the type of thorax trauma ,cares and the treatment results. The data were then analyzed using  descriptive methods.

Results: 92.6% of the sample were aged 12-69. 64.1% of them had non-penetrating trauma. In 52.4% of cases, the cause of injury was motor vehicle accident. There were no side injuries in 54.3% of the cases.  For 36% of cases only a conservative treatment was carried out. 85.9% made full recovery and 4.5% died. Hypovolumic shock was determined as the cause of death in 72.4% of cases .The highest case fatality (30.4%) was in patients aged 70 and over.

Conclusion: Results from this study show that people in productive ages are the group at risk.  The cause of injury in most cases was motor vehicle accident, with the most common cause of death being hypovolumic shock happened in older people.