Abstract
The 7.2 and 5.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey on October 23 and November 9, 2011, was one of the deadliest earthquakes in recent decade. Our aim is to determine the clinical profile of crush thoracic traumas resulting from the massive Van earthquake. A retrospective review was undertaken of 39 intervention for chest traumas. Sex distrubition was 21 female and 18 male patients. Thoracic cage, pulmonary parenchyma, and pleura traumas were included in the study. Among the total of 425 hospitalized patients, 39 (9.1%) were thorax and lung injuries. Pneumothorax and rib fractures were the two most frequent pathologies. There were pneumothorax or hemothorax in 31 (79%) patients, bronch ruptures in 2 (5.1%) patients, diaphragmatic ruptures in 2 (5.1%) patients, flail chest in 2 (5.1%) patients and sternal fracture was detected in 2 (5.1%) patients. Totally, 76 ribs fractures were found in 27 (69%) patients, There were 36 (92%) patients with pulmonary parenchymal injuries and 31 (79%) with pleural injuries. Thoracotomy was performed in 4 (10%) patients, while 37 (95%) patients underwent tube thoracostomy. Carinal reconstruction was performed in a patient with bronchus and trachea injuries. Four patients (10%) with severe trauma developed Acute Respiratory Distres Syndrome (ARDS) and two of them died because of developing ARDS. After the patients are admitted to the hospital, we should use an individualized treatment according to the patients recent clinical history and examination. At the same time, traumatic chest injury should be considered in planning the medical response strategies.
Highlights
On October 23 and November 9, 2011 two catastrophic earthquakes was occured in ancient city of Van with a magnitude of 7.2 and 5.6 (Richter scale)
Four hundred twenty five of 1800 trauma patients admitted to our hospital were hospitalized and treated with hospital care in different departments between October 23 and November 9, 2011, following the both earthquakes. 159 (37.4%) patients were treated in orthopedics surgery, 37 (8.7%) were in general and 16 [3,7] were in pediatric surgery, 39 (9.1%) were in thorax surgery. 34 (%8.0) patient were treated in neurosurgery, 62 (14.5%) were in internal medicine, 38 (8.9%) in intensive care unit and 40 (%9.4) were in the other departments Of those patients, 420 (98.8%) had records that could be accessed 39 patients who had crush thoracic trauma from the earthquake due to collapsed constructions were reviewed
In the recent 2 decades earthquakes alone have caused more than one million deaths worldwide [8,9] and unknown numbers of injuries, there is little information about epidemiological features of victims
Summary
On October 23 and November 9, 2011 two catastrophic earthquakes was occured in ancient city of Van with a magnitude of 7.2 and 5.6 (Richter scale). Van city is located in the eastern part of the Turkey with a highly ondulated land as a extension of western Himalaya’s. Because of the earthquake epicenter is close to the densely populated area the loss of life was greatly increased [1]. In the English literature, chest traumas compose 10%–15% of all traumas and carry a mortality rate ranging from 8.2% to 33.3% [2,3]. The leading cause of chest traumas is road traffic accidents, and the second through fourth most common causes are falls, assault, and work-related accidents, respectively [4,5]
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