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Abstract
Chest traumas account for 10% to 15% of all traumas and are the cause of death in 25% of all fatalities resulting from trauma. Over 70% of thoracic injuries result from blunt trauma, most of which are caused by automobile accidents. About 85% of the chest trauma victims who arrive alive at a trauma center can be managed without a thoracotomy. The remaining 15% require urgent thoracotomy as a life-saving maneuver, in further details it will be required in approximately 30% of cases presenting after penetrating chest injury and in 15% after blunt chest trauma. Thoracotomy is an incision of the chest wall that allows direct visualization for all intrathoracic structures and so any injury can be managed quickly and adequately. It is performed by trained surgeons, to gain access to the thoracic organs. The complexity of the intervention and its consequences mean that significant training is required to perform it. Resuscitative or emergency thoracotomy is a lifesaving procedure, when performed with the correct indications and approaches. This study was carried out to assess different indications of thoracotomy in chest trauma patients and to evaluate its outcome. In the period from March 2009 to October 2010, 30 patients underwent thoracotomy in cardiothoracic surgery department in Menoufiya University Hospitals due to chest trauma.