BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to outline the postoperative complications, lethality rates and associated risk factors (trauma mechanism, anatomic site injury, location of surgical intervention, associated injuries, transfusion need and anatomic trauma scores) in patients with cardiac wounds presenting vital signs at admission in the operation room. METHODS: This is a retrospective and analytic study using charts of 52 patients, who underwent thoracotomy for treatment of cardiac injuries in a trauma center in northeastern Brazil between July/91 and March/97. RESULTS: The most frequent injury was caused by stab wound, in 28 patients (53.85%), followed by gunshot wounds in 24 patients (46.15%) Isolate right ventricle wounds occurred in 25 cases (48.08%). The median for anatomic trauma scores were: injury severity score (ISS)=26; penetrating trauma index (PTI)=23; penetrating thoracic trauma index (PTTI)=20; and penetrating cardiac trauma index (PCTI)=15. Postoperative complication rate was 36.54% and the lethality rate was 13.45%. Postoperative bleeding, reoperation and use of more than three packaged red blood cells increased de relative risk to lethality. The anatomic trauma scores were not associated with the relative risk to lethality. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients treated for cardiac injuries presented good predictors for survival, justifying our low mortality rates.
Cardiac trauma; Penetrating wounds
