Nationwide Analysis of Penetrating Thoracic Aortic Injury: Injury Patterns, Management, and Outcomes

Penetrating thoracic aortic injuries (PTAI) represent a rare form of thoracic trauma. Unlike blunt thoracic aortic injuries (BTAI), only scarce data, included in small case series, are currently available for PTAI. The purpose of this study was to describe injury patterns, surgical management, and outcomes of patients with PTAI and compare to those with BTAI. A 9-y retrospective cohort study (2007-2015) was conducted using the National Trauma Data Bank. Patient demographics, injury profile, procedures performed, and patient outcomes were compared between the PTAI and BTAI group. A total of 2714 patients with PTAI and 14,037 patients with BTAI were identified. Compared to BTAI, PTAI patients were younger (28 versus 42 y, P