title: Diagnostic dilemmas and current controversies in blunt chest trauma.
abstract: Blunt chest injuries are common encounters in the emergency department. Instead of a comprehensive review of the management of all chest injuries, this review focuses on injuries that can be difficult to diagnose and manage, including blunt aortic injury, cardiac contusion, and blunt diaphragmatic injury. This review also discusses some recent controversies in the literature regarding the use of prophylactic antibiotics for tube thoracostomy and the optimal management of occult pneumothorax. The article concludes with a discussion of the management of rib fractures in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, One Deaconess Road, W/CC-2, Boston, MA 02215, USA. dmcgilli@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McGillicuddy
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rosen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000293:injuries; D015505:Chest Tubes; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000293:injuries; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012253:Rib Fractures / Q000628:therapy; D012421:Rupture; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013907:Thoracostomy; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000175:diagnosis*