Otsuka, H., Sato, T., Morita, S., Nakagawa, Y. and Inokuchi, S. (2016) A Case of Blunt Traumatic Cardiac Tamponade Successfully Treated by Out-of-Hospital Pericardial Drainage in a “Doctor-Helicopter” Ambulance Staffed by Skilled Emergency Physicians. The Tokai Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, 41, 1-3.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Lifesaving Emergency Sternotomy in Traumatic Cardiac Tamponade in a Teaching Hospital in Ghana: Survival of Two Rare Cases

  AUTHORS: Isaac Okyere, Samuel Gyasi Brenu, Perditer Okyere

  KEYWORDS: Median Sternotomy, Cardiac Tamponade, Chest Trauma, Emergency

  JOURNAL NAME: World Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol.10 No.3, March 27, 2020

  ABSTRACT: Introduction: Patients presenting with cardiac injuries from gunshot wounds and blunt chest trauma have high mortality, without any observed survival benefit when presenting with cardiac tamponade. Cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening hemodynamically significant compression of the heart by a sudden or gradual accumulation of collections in the pericardial space that incites and overrides the body’s compensatory mechanism. Clinical Case: We present and discuss the successful management and survival of two patients with traumatic cardiac tamponade from gunshot wounds to the precordium who underwent successful lifesaving median sternotomy at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana with a new Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Unit. Discussion: Usually the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade from traumatic haemopericardium is made by clinical findings which though may not always be present especially after blunt chest trauma. EFAST is a reliable tool for diagnosing and following cardiac tamponade. Median sternotomy is the standard procedure in these patients to access and repair cardiac injury either with or without cardiopulmonary bypass. Conclusion: Emergency median sternotomy in patients with cardiac tamponade from chest trauma especially after EFAST diagnosis can be lifesaving even in less resourced centres.