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Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders pp 175–178Cite as

Musculoskeletal Chest Pain

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Abstract

Musculoskeletal chest pain or chest wall pain is the most common type of chest pain presenting to the primary care office (Huber et al., Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 22:52, 2014). It can result from direct trauma or repetitive stress to the chest wall. Regardless of etiology, musculoskeletal chest pain is rarely life-threatening. However, when there is an underlying intrathoracic injury, prognosis is poor (Ayloo et al., Primary Care 40:863–887, 2013). Signs of hemodynamic instability, respiratory difficulty, multiple rib fractures, scapula fractures, sternal fracture, and flail chest after direct trauma to the chest indicate high probability of intrathoracic injury and should be immediately referred to the emergency department. Once intrathoracic injury has been ruled out and a diagnosis of musculoskeletal pain has been made, it should be treated appropriately to prevent pulmonary complications. Diagnosis of musculoskeletal chest pain can be made clinically and with imaging to support the diagnosis. Most patients improve with conservative treatment and corticosteroid injections reserved for refractory cases. Physical therapy is helpful in reducing pain and swelling and restoring strength and flexibility.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PGY-3, New York Medical College Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program, Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York, NY, USA

    Haresh Sampathkumar MD & Chris Thomas MD

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, New York Medical College, Metropolitan Hospital, New York, NY, USA

    Eduardo Lopez MD

Authors
  1. Haresh Sampathkumar MD
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  2. Chris Thomas MD
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  3. Eduardo Lopez MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haresh Sampathkumar MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Stuart B. Kahn

  2. Interventional Pain Management, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Rachel Yinfei Xu

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Sampathkumar, H., Thomas, C., Lopez, E. (2017). Musculoskeletal Chest Pain. In: Kahn, S., Xu, R. (eds) Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_37

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50510-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50512-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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