Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26038169›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2015

The selective conservative management of small traumatic pneumothoraces following stab injuries is safe: experience from a high-volume trauma service in South Africa.

V Y Kong, G V Oosthuizen, D L Clarke

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

V Y KongPietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service, Department of Surgery, University of KwaZulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 3216, South Africa, victorywkong@yahoo.com.
G V Oosthuizen
D L Clarke
Umkhuseli Innovation and Research Management · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe selective conservative management of small pneumothoraces (PTXs) following stab injuries is controversial. We reviewed a cohort of patients managed conservatively in a high volume trauma service in South Africa. MATERIALS AND

methodsA retrospective review over a 2-year period identified 125 asymptomatic patients with small PTXs measuring <2 cm on chest radiograph who were managed conservatively.

resultsOf the 125 patients included in the study, 92% were male (115/125), and the median age for all patients was 21 years (19-24). Ninety-seven per cent (121/125) of the weapons involved were knives, and 3% (4/125) were screwdrivers. Sixty-one per cent of all injuries were on the left side. Eighty-two per cent (102/125) sustained a single stab, and 18% (23/125) had multiple stabs. Thirty-nine per cent (49/125) had a PTX <0.5 cm (Group A), 26% (32/125) were ≥ 0.5 to <1 cm (Group B), 19% (24/125) were ≥ 1 to <1.5 cm (Group C) and 15% (20/125) were ≥ 1.5 to <2 cm (Group D). Three per cent of all patients (4/125) eventually required ICDs (one in Group C, three in Group D). All four patients had ICDs in situ for 24 h. The remaining 97% (121/125) were all managed successfully by active clinical observation alone. There were no subsequent readmissions, morbidity or mortality as a direct result of our conservative approach.

conclusionsThe selective conservative management of asymptomatic small PTXs from stab injuries is safe if undertaken in the appropriate setting.

Indexed as

Trauma CentersAdultDrainageFemaleHumansLaparotomyLength of StayMalePneumothoraxRetrospective StudiesSouth AfricaThoracic InjuriesThoracostomyWounds, Stab

Identifiers

PMID26038169
OpenAlexW2002673476

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.