Surgical profile of chest penetrating wounds caused by stabbing in a low-income country: about 73 cases

Introduction. Penetrating wounds of thorax are frequent and require specific cares. The target of this study is to describe the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and progressive aspects of penetrating wounds of thorax by stabbing. Material and methods. This is a retrospective study of 73 patients with thoracic wounds by stabbing hospitalized at the Thoracic Surgery Department of University Hospital Center Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona, Madagascar, from January 01, 2015 to January 31, 2018. Results. The mean age was 31.5 years, with a male predominance (89.04%). Most of the patients were in the tertiary sector (56.16%). Most of the cases were criminal assaults (by an unknown person = 91.78%). The thoracic lesions seen were fluid effusion in 58.9%, mixed in 32.88% and air in 6.85%. The association with limb trauma was the most common (16.44%). Chest drainage was performed in 67.12% of cases, thoracotomy in 1.37%. Evolution was favourable for most of the cases (90.41%). We found complications in 9.59% of the patients. Conclusions. Penetrating thoracic wounds by stabbing are frequent and represent an emergency, but patients often arrive late due to remoteness, financial problems, and neglect of chest wounds.