A MEDICOLEGAL STUDY ON CASES WITH THORACIC TRAUMA REFERRED TO MENOUFIYA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Abstract

The study•was carried out on 200 patients wiU1 traumatic chest injuries. They were 128 males (64%) and 72 females (36%), with a sex ratio of 1.8: l. ln each case, the following data were obtained; age, sex, marital status, level of education, occupation, district, time of arrival, exact scene of injury, transportation, accompaniment, circumstances, type of lesion, site and multiplicity of injuries as well as management and mortality. Chest trauma is one of the most common injuries in the polytraumatic patients, so the chest of the polytraumatic patients must be examined even if the patient is not symptomatized. The maximum number of iitiured patients was in the age group 15-

<25 years (27.5%). The maximum number of male patients was encountered in the same age group i.e. 15-<25 years (33.6%) followed by 28.1% in the age group 35-<45 years. This pattern was not followed in the female group, where the maximum number of female patients was encountered in the age group 35-<45 years (25%), followed by the age group 45-<55 years (23.6%). On the other hand, the minimum number of injured patients was encountered in the age group <5 years (2%), this age group showed also the least number among both male and female patients (0.8% and 4.2% respectively). As regard marital status, singles were the most vulnerable group to trauma (56.5 %) as U1ey are careless and even aggressive. The study revealed that, nearly half of the cases (48%) were illiterate. They were mostly manual works, so hazards may take place.