Background Breast trauma is an often under-recognized injury, especially in female polytrauma patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of breast injuries and their association with injury severity score (ISS) in trauma patients nationally. Method A retrospective review was performed using data from the National Trauma Data Bank® (NTDB®) from 2016 to 2019, using all applicable International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for three outlined subgroups (abrasions, contusions, and open wounds/punctures/lacerations) with minors excluded. All continuous variables were tested as non-normally distributed, and all test results for continuous variables used the Kruskal-Wallis test. All categorical variables were tested using a chi-squared test. Results Patients with traumatic breast abrasions and contusions had a higher rate of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (23.8%; n=395 and 25.3%; n=48, respectively) compared to patients with open wounds/punctures/lacerations (13.6%; n=205). Patients with abrasions and contusions to the breast had a significantly higher ISS compared to those with visible open wounds/punctures/lacerations (9 and 9, vs 5, p <0.001). Mortality rates were highest among patients with breast abrasions and contusions, 15% (n=213) and 14% (n=23), respectively, compared to patients with open wounds/punctures/lacerations at 11% (n=132), p<0.017. Conclusion Traumatic breast abrasions and contusions were associated with higher rates of ICU admission, elevated ISS, and overall mortality compared to open breast wounds, punctures, or lacerations. This indicates the importance of traumatic breast injuries as a prognostic indicator in the standard workup of a trauma patient.
Keywords: blunt chest trauma; breast; breast injury; breast trauma; motor vehicle accident; penetrating breast injury.
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