Abstract

SAKHO Aminata*, BALDE Thierno Hamidou, DOUMBOUYA Ibrahima Sory, DIALLO Souleymane Mbara, DRAME Karamba, BARRY Habourayatou

ABSTRACT

Introduction: post-traumatic hemothorax is an urgent and medico-surgical condition whose frequency is constantly increasing. Standard chest radiography in the trauma patient remains prominent in the initial evaluation of chest injuries. The aim of this work was to study the clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic epidemiological profile of this pathology. Materials and Methods: This is a 10-month prospective descriptive study of 30 cases of patients admitted for post-traumatic hemothorax in the thoracic surgery department of the Donka National Hospital in the Republic of Guinea from April 1, 2020 to 31 January 2021. Results: The mean age was 33.60 years and a sex ratio of 4. Road accidents were the main etiologies of hemothorax. Hemothorax was low abundance in 17 patients (56.67%), medium abundance in 7 patients (23.33%) and high abundance in 6 patients (20%). Ninety-seven percent (97%) of our patients had immediate clinical and radiological improvement after pleural drainage. Among these patients, only one presented a complication type of infection. We recorded one case of death (3%). Conclusion: hemothoraxes constitute a medico-surgical emergency which is highly life-threatening. We were able to observe that the patients admitted to the thoracic surgery department of the CHU Donka in whom the diagnosis of post-traumatic hemothorax is established are relatively young subjects and mostly male.