Chest Trauma, Iatrogenic Trauma including drainage tubes and some Post-surgical Conditions and Complications of Radiotherapy.

Chest trauma may be relatively trivial or life threatening, particularly when there are multiple concomitant injuries to the head, face, abdomen, or limbs, etc. Injuries may be penetrating, with knife or bullet wounds, but are more commonly due to blunt trauma. This may give rise to rib and/or sternal fractures, a flail anterior or lateral chest wall or damage to the diaphragm and/or heart or great vessels. The dorsal spine may be injured together with cord compression. Intra-thoracic nerves, such as the phrenics, may be stretched or divided. Penetrating injuries are always more obvious from the front, but the great vessels and the heart, etc. may also be injured by a posteriorly entering object, and the possible track of a missile should always be considered. Mediastinal injury may produce widening due to bleeding with injury to the aorta, mediastinal veins or other vessels.