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MAJOR WARREN H. BRUNE, MC

AMA Arch Surg. 1957;75(5):724-725.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Problems of peculiar importance to thoracic injuries are open-chest wounds and tension pneumothorax. Open wounds of the chest must be converted to closed wounds in order to keep a functioning respiratory system. In the earliest phase of care, this may be accomplished by an adequate bandage. The picture of a patient with steadily increasing dyspnea, gasping respirations, and increasing cyanosis, in shock, with distended neck veins, flushed face, and a deviation of the trachea, with or without visible chest wound, may be diagnosed as indicating tension pneumothorax. The immediate requirement in such a situation is decompression, and this may be accomplished with any available needle. For transportation purposes, a needle may be left in place with a finger cot over the hub and a hole in one side to act as a flap valve. Injury to the lung parenchyma and bronchi poses two main problems, in addition to pneumothorax. These . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
U. S. Army

Footnotes
Submitted for publication May 23, 1957.

Read at the Tripler Army Hospital Symposium on Surgery in Acute Trauma, Honolulu, April 1-5, 1957.

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