title: Choice of incision in penetrating cardiac injuries: Which one must we prefer: Thoracotomy or sternotomy?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Penetrating cardiac injuries are high-risk, high-mortality injuries considering the outcomes. Therefore, it is important to choose the appropriate incision. In general clinical settings, thoracotomy and median sternotomy are choices of incisions to explore the injury. In this study, the results of median sternotomy and thoracotomy in penetrating cardiac injuries were compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2003 and December 2013, forty patients, who underwent either thoracotomy or median sternotomy for penetrating cardiac injury, were retrospectively analyzed, and the collected data were compared. Twenty-six patients underwent thoracotomy (Group 1), and fourteen patients underwent median sternotomy (Group 2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no statistically significant gender difference between the groups. However, the mean age in Group 2 was found to be significantly higher than the one in Group 1 (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no significant survival differences between the groups in the long term. Incision choice should be determined considering the site of injury and whether there is an accompanying pulmonary injury or not. On the other hand, thoracotomy has some draw backs compared to median sternotomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Ataturk Training and Reseacrh Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yüksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Beşir
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gökalp
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Ataturk Training and Reseacrh Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Börteçin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eygi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Ataturk Training and Reseacrh Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: İner
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Ataturk Training and Reseacrh Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: İhsan
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Peker
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Emergency, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gamze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gökalp
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yılık
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Katip Celebi University Ataturk Training and Reseacrh Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gürbüz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003657:Decision Making; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D056346:Sternotomy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013908:Thoracotomy; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult