Abstract
Thoracic trauma management has changed over the past several years with the introduction of new catheters, pain management techniques, protective lung ventilation, and rib fixation devices. With these new approaches to management, this chapter serves to introduce key clinical scenarios and subsequent treatment options and evidence contour. Clinical scenarios focus on pneumothoraces, hemothoraces, rib fractures, and lung contusions with keys to diagnosis, initial steps of management, common complications, and areas of controversial management including avoiding chest tube insertion, timing of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, rib fixation, and fluid management and ventilator management for lung contusions.
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Video shows presence of lung sliding in a US that is consistent with normal lung. (AVI 837 kb)
Video shows absence of lung sliding highly indicative of a pneumothorax. (AVI 4161 kb)
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Klein, K.M., Raghavendran, K. (2017). Thoracic Trauma. In: Hyzy, R. (eds) Evidence-Based Critical Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43341-7_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43341-7_77
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