title: A complete tear of the pectoralis major muscle from a seat belt injury.
abstract: Rupture of the pectoralis major muscle is a rare injury that can result in both functional and cosmetic deficiency, with fewer than 150 cases reported in the literature. To date, the injury has been reported exclusively in men and is most common among weight lifters and high-performance athletes. The treatment of partial rupture is conservative, whereas in cases of total rupture surgical repair is advocated, particularly in young active patients. Here, we report the case of a complete proximal tear of the pectoralis major muscle from a seat belt injury sustained in a motor vehicle accident. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such a case has been reported in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia 6000, Australia. ogautschi@datacomm.ch
authors.forename: Oliver P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Gautschi
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zellweger
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010369:Pectoralis Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D012421:Rupture; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed