الفهرس 
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Abstract
27.3 % of patients. The majority of patients with thoracic trauma can be managed non-operatively. Emergency thoracotomy has become an established procedure in the management of life-threatening thoracic trauma. Patients who have an isolated penetrating thoracic injury have the best prognosis, while moribund patients who have suffered blunt trauma, will generally have a dismal prognosis.
All patients were males, penetrating trauma accounts for 90.9%. Stab wounds were the most common cause of penetrating injuries, 59.1% of patients had isolated thoracic injuries. The mean LHS was 4.73 ± 5.29 days. The mean post-operative hospital stay was 3.6 ± 5.1 days. Pre-operative E-FAST was done in 90.9 %, the most common finding was pericardial collection 54.5 %. CT scan was done in 22.7 % where the most common finding was haemo-thorax (13.6 %).
The most common two indications for emergency thoracotomy were shock (59.09 %) and pericardial tamponade (50 %). A statistical significant difference between the indications of thoracotomy and the mechanisms of injuries, (p = 0.012), was observed. Left anterior thoracotomy was the most common approach used in emergency thoracotomy (81.8 %) and pulmonary injuries (45.5 %) was the most common finding. Most common post-operative complication was basal lung atelectasis that was found in
Patients who suffered from a gunshot injury tended to have a higher ISS and significantly lower respiratory rate than those admitted with a stab wound.
Patients with penetrating chest injuries had significantly shorter time from admission to OR, significant difference in the indications of thoracotomy and the need for chest tube thoracostomy, and a significant difference in the preoperative investigations findings, compared to patients with blunt chest trauma.
Overall mortality was (9.1 %). Factors affecting mortality was ISS, which was lower in survived group, and the amount of blood transfusion, which was less in survived group.