Background: Extensive urbanization and increasing motor vehicles come hand in hand with the increasing number of road traffic accidents (RTAs). The problem is even more in developing countries like India, due to increasing population and disregard for traffic safety rules and regulations. Chest injuries often remain silent and may be missed on initial examination. This study was planned to detect such injuries and observe the outcomes with/without interventions. Aims and Objectives: The aim was to create an awareness among all the levels of healthcare workers so that they have a low threshold for suspecting a life-threatening chest injury and timely intervention or referral to appropriate centers can be made possible in these trauma patients. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was planned from January 2023 to June 2024. A total of 144 RTA patients admitted in this period were studied, and their data were recorded. Results: Young males and two-wheeler drivers (51.4%) were mostly the victims of road accidents. Rib fracture (88.2%) was the most common finding, followed by hemothorax (64.6%). Majority of patients required a tube thoracostomy (51.4%), and a substantial no. of them could be managed conservatively (31.3%). Most patients were discharged in a stable condition (68.1%). Conclusion: Chest injuries can result in death if missed/ignored. They can be detected easily on chest X-rays and treated conservatively or simple tube thoracostomy. Hence, healthcare workers of all levels must be adequately trained and provided with facilities (e.g. X-ray machines, etc.) for detecting chest injuries so that timely interventions or referrals can be done.
Roy et al. (Mon,) studied this question.