Surgical Treatment of Sternal Fracture: Case Report and Literature Review

Orlando Téllez-Almenares, MD, MSc

Saturnino Lora Provincial Hospital, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; University of Medical Sciences of Santiago de Cuba, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; E-mail: orlandotellez.al@gmail.com

Trauma remains a global health concern with meaningful repercussions on peoples’ lives and healthcare systems.1,2 The development and mechanisation of industries and vehicles’ widespread use has been determining factors in increased traumas.3 The Swedish Trauma Registry informs that it is one of the leading cause of death and disability in individuals under 45 worldwide, surpassing cancer deaths among young adults.4

Road traffic crashes are a foremost cause of injury, posing a critical matter in numerous nations.2 The World Health Organisation (WHO) conveyed that traffic accidents provoke approximately 1.3 million yearly casualties.5 As per National Trauma Data Bank’s
2016 annual report,6 223,866 motor vehicle accidents ensued in the United States, resulting in 10,343 casualties. A recent Cuban report7 points out that between 2019 and 2020, there were 1,368 fatalities from road traffic accidents, of which 80.8% were male.
Blunt trauma is a common occurrence in motor vehicle collisions and is associated, in most cases, with severe organ damage.1,6,8 In Sweden, blunt injuries account for approximately 90% of all injuries. Blunt thorax traumas (BTT) are the third leading
cause of trauma-related death, preceded only by traffic-related head and abdominal injuries.8

The thorax is one of the most affected regions in motor vehicle accidents. The 2016 National Trauma Data Bank statistics6 logged 1,29,338 thoracic traumas (TT) with AIS>3 with a fatality rate of 9.53. Multiple authors have noted that TT mortality is proximately 25% of all traumatic deaths globally and contributes 25% to mortality from other types of traumas. South Korean research Byun et al1 shows that 33.6%-non-surviving caseload died due to significant chest harm. In contrast, a Cuban study3 states that TT accounts for 4-6% of trauma admissions in Cuba and has a fatality rate of 15%.

REFERENCES

1. Byun CS, Park IH, Oh JH, Bae KS, Lee KH, Lee E. Epidemiology of trauma patients and analysis of 268 mortality cases: Trends of a single Center in Korea. Yonsei Med J. 2015; 56(1): 220-226. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2015.56.1.220

2. Beshay M, Mertzlufft F, Kottkamp HW, et al. Analysis of risk factors in thoracic trauma patients with a comparison of a modern trauma centre: a mono-centre study. World J Emerg Surg. 2020; 15: 45. doi: 10.1186/s13017-020-00324-1

3. Satorre Rocha JA, León González OC, López Rodríguez PR, García Castillo E, Danta Fundora LM. Characterisation of patients with thoracic trauma treated at the Hospital Enrique Cabrera. 2014-2018. MediSur. 2019; 17(6): 815-823.