Occult Pneumothorax in Patients With Blunt or Penetrating Trauma

Pneumothorax is a common life-threatening complication, frequently seen in patients who have been admitted to the emergency department and intensive care unit. This study aimed to describe the features of patients with pneumothorax due to blunt or penetrating trauma. A total of 615 patients admitted to the emergency department between January 2008 and December 2010 due to multi-trauma, and underwent both chest x-ray and computed chest tomography were included in the study. There were 157 patients with a diagnosis of pneumothorax. Fifty-five of them were excluded because of the eligible criteria. The final study population included 105 patients. The computed chest tomography reading was considered as the gold standard for the occult pneumothorax diagnosis. Data on patient characteristics, trauma types, accompanied traumas, etiology of the chest trauma, and chest x-ray, and computed chest tomography results were recorded.