Chest & Abdomen
Chest trauma is a common finding in car accidents and falls. A forceful blow to the chest can injure organs in the chest and/or upper abdomen.
Rib Fracture (Broken Rib) is caused by an injury to the chest. The patient may experience pain at the site of injury and pain that gets worse when breathing or coughing.
Pneumothorax (Collapsed Lung) results from a buildup of air between the lung and chest wall. This prevents your lung from expanding properly and causes shortness of breath and chest pain. Most of the time it results from a broken rib or puncture wound to the chest.
Hemothorax results from an accumulation of blood between the lung and chest wall. The lung is usually the source of bleeding, thus a chest tube needs to be placed to drain the blood. It usually results from blunt trauma or penetrating trauma. Chest pain and/or shortness of breath is present.
Flail Chest occurs with multiple rib fractures that allow a part of the chest wall to cave in when breathing in and bulge out when breathing out. The real problem is an underlying pulmonary contusion (bruised lung).
Pulmonary Contusion (Bruised Lung) can occur immediately after chest trauma. It is usually associated with rib fractures and flail chest.
Myocardial Contusion (Bruised Heart) is mainly caused by a broken sternum (breast bone) from the impact with the steering wheel.
Pericardial Tamponade (Cardiac Tamponade) occurs when fluid collects in the sac around the heart and squeezes the heart. This prevents the lower chambers of the heart from filling with blood so less blood is pumped to the rest of the body. Pericardial tamponade can result from blunt trauma or penetrating trauma to the chest.
Abdomen
Most common cause of injury is by blunt trauma. It can also be caused with the use of seatbelts. Abdominal and pelvic injuries are more common with side-on-collisions. The liver and spleen are most likely to be damaged in blunt trauma to the abdomen, so internal bleeding must be ruled out. Sometimes and exploratory laparotomy must be performed in cases of blunt trauma to the abdomen. An exploratory laparotomy is a surgical incision into the abdominal cavity. This is performed to examine the internal organs and aid in diagnosis.
Hemoperitoneum is a collection of blood in the peritoneal cavity. The peritoneal cavity is just a compartment of the abdomen.
Splenis Injuries are the most common cause of bleeding into the abdomen. One cause of this is broken ribs on the left side of the body. The spleen can have a laceration that must be repaired or the spleen may rupture which is a more serious situation.
Hepatic Injuries (Liver Injuries) are the second most commonly injured after blunt abdominal trauma such as a car accidents. A steering column may cause damage to an entire portion of the liver. Deceleration (sudden decrease in speed or stopping) produce shearing forces that can tear the liver and often involve major blood vessels.
Rupture of the Aorta requires a deceleration injury and is totally asymptomatic until it actually ruptures, which is deadly. The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body.
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