Thoracic Trauma

Overview

Thoracic injury is a common presentation, which accounts for 25% of all deaths in trauma. Initial assessment and early management are critical for patient outcomes. Our researchers place importance on the effectiveness in the delivery of timely lifesaving interventions such as pleural decompression. Another focus area is diagnostic performance, which can be a key determinant for survival, especially in patients with cardiac injuries.

Key Researchers

Key Publications

Finger thoracostomy in patients with chest trauma performed by paramedics on a helicopter emergency medical service

Liam Hannon, Toby St Clair, Karen Smith, Mark Fitzgerald, Biswadev Mitra, Alexander Olaussen, John Moloney, George Braitberg, Rodney Judson, Warwick Teague, Nuala Quinn, Yesul Kim, Stephen Bernard

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Emergency department resuscitative thoracotomy at an adult major trauma centre: Outcomes following a training programme with standardised indications.

Mark C Fitzgerald, Matthew S Yong, Katherine Martin, Adam Zimmet, Silvana F Marasco, Joseph Mathew, De Villiers Smit, Meei Yeung, Gim A Tan, Marc Marquez, Zoe Cheung, Ellaine Boo, Biswadev Mitra

Pleural Decompression and Drainage during Trauma Reception and Resuscitation

Injury 2008 Jan:39;9-20. DOI:10.1016/j.injury.2007.07.021

Fitzgerald M, Mackenzie C F, Marasco S, Hoyle R, Kossmann T

Video-tube thoracostomy in trauma resuscitation: A pilot study

Injury 50(1): 90-95.

Finnegan, P., et al. (2019).

Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial of Operative Rib Fixation in Traumatic Flail Chest

J Am Coll Surg. 2013 May;216(5):924-322013. doi:pii: S1072-7515(12)01429-9.

Marasco SF, Davies AR, Cooper J, Varma D, Bennett V, Nevill R, Lee G, Bailey M, Fitzgerald M.

Failed Emergency Department disposition to the ward of patients with thoracic injury

Injury 2008 May 39(5): 586-91. DOI:10.1016/j.injury.2007.10.021

Blecher G, Mitra B, Cameron PA, Fitzgerald M.

Do patients with blunt thoracic aortic injury present to hospital with unstable vital signs? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Emerg Med J, Jan 2018;35:231–237. doi:10.1136/emermed-2017-206688

J Bade-Boon, JK Mathew, MC Fitzgerald, B Mitra.

Diagnostic performance of the cardiac FAST in a high volume Australian trauma centre

Journal of Emergency Medicine, Trauma and Acute Care 2017(1):2. May 2017. DOI: 10.5339/jemtac.2017.2

Ruth Gratton, Alexander Olaussen, Mariam Hassam, Prasanthan Thaveenthiran, Mark Fitzgerald, Biswadev Mitra