Investigation of Heart Damage Following Isolated Sternum Fracture in Trauma Patients Referred to Pursina Hospital in Rasht between 2016 and 2018

Isolated sternum fracture is known as a dangerous fracture. Conservative treatment measures and increased length of hospitalization lead to a large financial burden. The available knowledge is limited. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of heart damage following isolated sternum fractures in trauma patients referred to Pursina Hospital in Rasht.

This was a descriptive retrospective study. The information of patients with isolated sternum fracture was extracted from the hospital information system (HIS) between 2016 and 2018.

31 patients were eligible for entry, whose mean and standard deviation of age was 49.19 ± 14 years. The largest number of patients is 32.3% in the age group of 40 to 49 years and 74.2% of them were men, 74% of them had trauma mechanisms caused by accidents, 67.8% of them did not have comorbidities, and 100% of patients did not have history of trauma or heart surgery. The mean and standard deviation of hospitalization days were 1.87±1.58. One hundred percent of patients with isolated sternum fracture were without any complications. They only received painkillers and they did not receive any other therapeutic intervention. The majority of cases, 90.3% of patients, were without cardiac complications. All patients were discharged with recovery and mortality rate was zero.

It seems that an isolated sternum fracture without accompanying other adjacent fractures in the chest does not lead to heart damage, mortality and related complications. Worrying about this only leads to an probable long- term hospitalization period. In addition,  an increase in the financial burden and services are provided to both patients and the healthcare system.