title: Gunshot wounds traversing the mediastinum: guidelines for evaluation and management.
abstract: When there is suspicion that a penetrating would to the chest has crossed the midline, it is incumbent upon the medical staff to actively exclude injuries to mediastinal structures such as the heart, aortic arch, bronchial tree, and esophagus, even though injury to such structures may not be immediately clinically apparent. The successful management of a patient with a gunshot wound apparently traversing the anterior mediastinum is presented; an esophagram identified an unsuspected through-and-through injury to the esophagus. The evaluation of this patient is discussed, and an algorithm for the evaluation and management of similar patients is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73190.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Falcon
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Knott-Craig
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Elkins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003974:Diatrizoate Meglumine; D004939:Esophageal Perforation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000601:surgery; D055370:Lung Injury; D008297:Male; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D003974:Diatrizoate Meglumine