• To enhance your knowledge of blunt mechanism chest wall injury
• To understand the acute care priorities for patients with blunt mechanism chest wall injury following initial assessment
• To contribute towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD (UK readers)
• To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)
Blunt mechanism chest wall injury (CWI) is commonly seen in the emergency department (ED), since it is present in around 15% of trauma patients. The thoracic cage protects the heart, lungs and trachea, thereby supporting respiration and circulation, so injury to the thorax can induce potentially life-threatening complications. Systematic care pathways have been shown to improve outcomes for patients presenting with blunt mechanism CWI, but care is not consistent across the UK. Emergency nurses have a crucial role in assessing and treating patients who present to the ED with blunt mechanism CWI. This article discusses the initial assessment and acute care priorities for this patient group. It also presents a prognostic model for predicting the probability of in-hospital complications following blunt mechanism CWI.
Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2024.e2181
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Baker E, Battle C, Lee G (2024) Blunt mechanism chest wall injury: initial patient assessment and acute care priorities. Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2024.e2181
Published online: 12 March 2024
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