5-Year management and outcomes of penetrating neck injury in a trauma center. Penetrating neck injury

Abstract Background Penetrating neck injuries represent 5–10% of all traumatic injuries, these bring with them a high rate of morbidity and mortality due to vital structures that could be injured in this area. The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of penetrating neck injuries. Methods This was a retrospective, unicentric and descriptive study that included all patients who underwent neck exploration surgery. Results A total of 70 neck exploration cases were reviewed, 34 (49%) didn’t had any injury. Thirty (43%) had at least one hard sign, 42 (60%) patients showed at least one soft sign. Statistical analysis showed only surgical time (252 ± 199.5 vs. 155 ± 76.4; p = 0.020) and transfusions (1.87 ± 3 vs. 0.4 ± 0.856; p = 0.013) were statistically significant. We report a mortality of 2 (3%) patients. Conclusions Our prevalence of neck surgical exploration without vascular injury was slightly higher (49% vs. 40%) than literature. We highlight the importance of not performing neck explorations in all patients who present a penetrating injury. We did not obtain differences between groups for hard signs and soft signs. We were not able to identify whether or not there would be an injury based on clinical characteristics. Imaging studies should be performed to avoid unnecessary neck explorations; however, depending on the clinical scenario some surgery cannot be avoided.