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Injuries to the Chest Wall pp 19–32Cite as

The Pathophysiology of Flail Chest Injury

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Abstract

Thoracic trauma is a commonly encountered entity in a trauma center and may present as a simple superficial abrasion to more severe and often life-threatening conditions like tension pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade, flail chest, and pulmonary contusion. The structures involved can vary from the overlying skin to the underlying ribs, muscles, lung, heart, and major blood vessels. Management of these disorders in general, and flail chest with pulmonary contusion in particular, is extremely challenging from a clinical perspective and requires in-depth knowledge of underlying pathophysiology. This chapter will focus on the intrathoracic pathophysiology associated with a flail chest injury.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Critical Care, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Akhilesh Tiwari M.D., Shalini Nair M.D. & Andrew Baker M.D., F.R.C.P.C.

  2. Departments of Anesthesia and Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Andrew Baker M.D., F.R.C.P.C.

Authors
  1. Akhilesh Tiwari M.D.
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  2. Shalini Nair M.D.
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  3. Andrew Baker M.D., F.R.C.P.C.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shalini Nair M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Orthopedic Surgery, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Michael D. McKee

  2. Division of Orthopedic Surgery, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Emil H. Schemitsch

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Tiwari, A., Nair, S., Baker, A. (2015). The Pathophysiology of Flail Chest Injury. In: McKee, M., Schemitsch, E. (eds) Injuries to the Chest Wall. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18624-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18624-5_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18623-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18624-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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