Citation

Krasnici S, Schmidt J, Reimann K, Ertel W, Topp T. Patient Saf. Surg. 2013; 7(1): 24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1754-9493-7-24

PMID

23830143

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The combination of a bony injury to the shoulder girdle and damage to the brachial plexus and the subclavian vessels is a rare finding. The cases of this combined injury pattern described in the literature are most notably reported in multiply-injured patients after high velocity trauma. FINDINGS: Three cases were admitted to our hospital after motorcycle accidents resulting in a combination of severe bony injuries to the shoulder girdle, to the subclavian artery and a lesion to the brachial plexus. Based on these three clinical cases the patterns of injury, as well as primary and secondary treatment approaches are presented. CONCLUSION: The early detection of these injuries can be difficult in given acute, life threatening injuries addressed first in these multiply injured patients. A high level of suspicion, in conjunction with standardized ATLS based institutional protocols for secondary and tertiary survey, should increase the likelihood of a timely detection and early management of these rare but potentially devastating injuries.

Language: en