Abstract

QUINTEROS VIRREIR, Ronald D.; ALMANZA URIBE, Marcelo E.  and  ABULARACH HEREDIA, Monica. Emergency toracothomy in cardiac injury in the Hospital Clinical Francisco Viedma. Gac Med Bol [online]. 2010, vol.33, n.1, pp.52-58. ISSN 1012-2966.

Cardiac lesions have been described very clearly in the course of history. There are descriptions of penetrating chest wounds in the Smith papyrus dating from 3000 B C. and in the Iliad, XIX century B C, which contains specific refer-ences to the bleeding as the cause of death of foreign bodies located within the heart. Many patients with cardiac injuries die at the site of the attack, during transport or in the emergency room and many of these deaths can be prevented by rapid transport assisted by an early diagnosis and hemodynamic management in emergency room mak-ing immediate emergency thoracotomy, RIGHT, LARGE AND RAPID APPROACH, with excellent exposure heart and its large vessels. The cardiac lesions appear to be the biggest challenge of trauma surgery. Its handling requires immediate surgery, an experienced surgeon who has good technique, and the ability to offer better recovery and post-operative lifestyle for the patient. We present three patients hospitalized at Hospital Viedma with heart penetrating injuries who underwent emergency thoracotomy, two of which presented simultaneously penetrating abdominal trauma stab in charge of handling emergency general surgery, three patients evolved favorably and were discharged in optimal conditions.

Keywords : Emergency thoracotomy; cardiac lesión.

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