Thoracic Trauma

The thorax contains many critical organs, and injury to these organs from blunt or penetrating trauma can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. The timely recognition and treatment of thoracic trauma is crucial to ensuring the patient’s survival. Most chest trauma is managed nonoperatively with pain control and a chest tube, if needed, but a high suspicion for serious injury should still be maintained. Workup of these injuries includes thorough physical examination, screening chest radiograph (CXR), bedside ultrasonography (US), and computed tomography (CT) imaging.