Utilidad de la radiografía simple en el traumatismo de tórax.

Introduction. Chest injuries are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Proper description of findings is important and the chest x-ray is the preferred imaging method. Objective. The aim of this study is to review the spectrum of lesions that occur in the chest, detected by means of simple x-rays, in polytraumatized patients. Material and methods. An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study of 72 patients (37 women and 35 men between 15 and 70 years of age) with polytrauma caused by automobile accidents. All underwent chest x-rays on admission. Results. We observed that 21 patients presented some radiological alteration associated with trauma and the most common injuries were costal fractures 44% (13 patients). The second most common radiological alteration was pulmonary contusion with 27% (8 patients), and pneumothorax was observed in 7% of the cases. Discussion. There was a distribution of injuries similar to that described in the specialized literature in terms of thoracic trauma. The anteroposterior x-ray is highly useful because it can be taken without altering the patient's mobility. Conclusion. The chest x-ray plays an important role in the initial evaluation of a polytraumatized patient and is a rapid, simple, and practical imaging method. It provides important information on the structures of the rib cage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]