Abstract
Blunt thoracic trauma is common in contact and collision sports though life-threatening injury is fortunately rare. Because of the potential complications of such trauma, all athletes with thoracic injury demand careful evaluation. Injuries may range from chest wall contusion to more serious conditions affecting the vital structures contained within the thoracic cavity, such as pneumothorax, pulmonary contusion, and blunt cardiac injury. The spectrum of clinical presentations may vary from subtle findings to hemodynamic collapse. A structured approach to ruling out life-threatening conditions is followed by more comprehensive evaluation on the sideline. Some athletes will require further hospital-based evaluation for imaging and other diagnostic testing. There are few well-established guidelines for returning to activity and sports after sustaining blunt thoracic trauma, and available recommendations are based on limited experience and case reports.
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Feden, J.P. (2020). Chest Trauma. In: Khodaee, M., Waterbrook, A., Gammons, M. (eds) Sports-related Fractures, Dislocations and Trauma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36790-9_41
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36790-9_41
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