Blunt trauma
Classification	Blunt Force Trauma, Blunt Trauma, Non-Penetrating trauma
Cause(s)	Vehicular Accidents, Sporting accidents, Assault, Trips/Falls
Affected Regions	Thorax,Scrotum,Abdominals,Chest,Neck,Testicles
Treatment(s)	Hospitalisation, Intraveinous procedures, Surgery
Further Development(s)	Internal Hemorraghing, Internal Organ Damage, Cardiac Arrest
Prevention	Safety equipment, Seatbelts, Common sense

In medical terminology, blunt trauma, blunt injury, non-penetrating trauma or blunt force trauma refers to a type of physical trauma caused to a bodypart, either by impact, injury or physical attack; the latter usually being referred to as blunt force trauma. The term itself is used to refer to the precursory trauma, from which there is further development of more specific types of trauma, such as contusions, abrasions, lacerations, and/or bone fracturing. Image File history File links Star_of_life. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1293x1887, 1061 KB) X-Ray Image of a male skull German description: Röntgenbild eines männlichen Schädels Photo by: Mnolf Date: 08. ... Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ... In some male mammals, the scrotum is a bag of skin and muscle containing the testicles. ... The human abdomen. ... Chest of a human male The chest is a part of the anatomy of humans and various other animals. ... A human neck. ... Human male anatomy The testicles, known medically as testes (singular testis), are the male generative glands in animals. ... A cardiothoracic surgeon performs a mitral valve replacement at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. ... Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, treatment and possible prevention of disease and injury. ... In medicine, a trauma patient has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury resulting in secondary complications such as shock, respiratory failure and death. ... A bruise or contusion or ecchymoses is a kind of injury, usually caused by blunt impact, in which the capillaries are damaged, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding tissue. ... Abrasion on the palm of a right hand, shortly after falling Abrasions on elbow and lower arm, still healing. ... Definition A cut is an injury that results in a break or opening in the skin. ... Internal and external views of an arm with a compound fracture, both before and after surgery A bone fracture is a medical condition in which a bone becomes cracked, splintered, or bisected as a result of physical trauma. ...

Variations

Abdominal Trauma (BAT)

Blunt abdominal trauma is often referred to as the most common type of trauma, representing around 50 to 75 percent of blunt trauma incurred. The majority of BAT is often attributed to car-to-car collisions, in which rapid deceleration often propels the driver forwards into the steering wheel or dashboard, causing rupturing of internal organs due to the presence transiently increasing intraluminal pressure, occurring in more serious cases, and contusions in less serious cases where speed or forward force is less. ^[1] A modern road cars steering wheel A modern Formula One cars steering wheel has buttons and knobs to control various functions A steering wheel is a type of steering control used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles. ... A dashboard from a 1940s car The dashboard of a modern car, a Bentley Continental GT A Hayabusas dash A modern Formula 1 car has all its gauges mounted on the steering wheel A dashboard or dash board in an automobile is a panel located under the windscreen and... A bruise or contusion or ecchymosis is a kind of injury, usually caused by blunt impact, in which the capillaries are damaged, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding tissue. ...

Abdominal trauma caused by deceleration and impact, shows a similar effect to trauma to any other part of the body; namely the rupturing or damage of free and relatively fixed objects, a classic example of such an injury would be a hepatic tear along the ligamentum teres followed with injuries to the renal arteries. The liver is an organ in vertebrates including humans. ... For the ligament of the hip, see Ligamentum teres femoris. ... Human kidneys viewed from behind with spine removed The renal arteries normally arise off the abdominal aorta and supply the kidneys with blood. ...

As with most trauma, blunt abdominal trauma is often the case of further injury, depending upon the severity of the accident; in the majority of cases, the liver and spleen being the most damaged or affected, followed by damage to the small intestine. There have also been recent studies to suggest that hepatic, and other concomitant injuries have developed from blunt abdominal trauma as a reflection of the increase in existing identification methods such as CT scanning ^[2] The liver is an organ in some animals, including mammals (and therefore humans), birds, and reptiles. ... The spleen is a ductless, vertebrate gland that is closely associated with the circulatory system, where it functions in the destruction of old red blood cells in holding a reservoir of blood. ... In anatomy, the intestine is the portion of the alimentary canal extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine (or colon). ... The liver is an organ in vertebrates including humans. ...

In rare cases, BAT has been attributed to several medical techniques such as the heimlich maneuver, attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation and manual thrusts to a clear airway. Although these are rare causes of blunt abdominal trauma, it is often thought that they are caused by applying unnecessary pressure when administering such techniques. ^[3] The Heimlich maneuver The Heimlich maneuver, also known as abdominal thrusts, is a first aid procedure for clearing an obstructed airway. ...

Diagnosis

Although blunt trauma is a condition in itself, the main emphasis on the diagnosis of blunt trauma is to ascertain the cause of the accident, any further injury and its correlation with the medical, dietary, and physiological history of the patient gathered from various sources, such as family and friends, or previous physicians, in order to establish the most swift path to recovery. This method is given the mnemonic "SITEMAP"; ^[4]

• Social history and/or evidence of substance abuse
• Immunization history
• Time of last meal or sign of nutrient intake
• Events leading to the accident or incident
• Medication status, history
• Allergies
• Past surgical and medical treatment history

Usually, in the case of examination, areas such as the head or those linked with the respiratory system have a higher priority, and are examined before the abdomen, so as to administer, if necessary, medical treatments which will immediately limit the amount of progressive damage which could be caused from such injuries. The amount of time spent on diagnosing abdominal injury should be minimal, and expedited by using relatively quick methods of determining the extent of such injury, such as by identifying free intra-abdominal fluid through diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) before reccomending a laparotomy if the situation requires one. ^[5] Respiration is a term used in both organismal biology and biochemistry, and may refer to: Respiration, the process by which an organism obtains energy by reacting oxygen with glucose to give water, carbon dioxide and energy. ... Diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) is performed when intra-abdominal bleeding (hemoperitoneum) usually secondary to trauma is suspected. ... A laparotomy is a surgical maneuver involving an incision through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. ...

Treatment

Whenever any blunt trauma is sustained to the body, it is normal for the doctor or paramedic attending, to ensure that there is no bleeding, internal or back injury, or breathing problems before administering any type of rehabilitative care to the patient. In cases of car accidents, or where a patient has had some form of accelerated impact, the likelihood is that there will be progressive damage to internal organs, as well as the fracturing of bones, which are both dealt with by splinting fractures and controlling external hemorrhaging. Within most cases, facilitation of intravenous therapy is required, along with other methods of stabilisation such as securing the airway of the casualty, or providing a respirator. ^[6] Minor traumatic bleeding from the head Bleeding is the loss of blood from the body. ... Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the administration of liquid substances directly into a vein. ... It has been suggested that gas mask be merged into this article or section. ...

See also

• Abrasion
• Contusion
• Laceration
• Sharp force trauma

Abrasion on the palm of a right hand, shortly after falling Abrasions on elbow and lower arm, still healing. ... A bruise or contusion or ecchymoses is a kind of injury, usually caused by blunt impact, in which the capillaries are damaged, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding tissue. ... Definition A cut is an injury that results in a break or opening in the skin. ...

Notes

1. ↑  Abdominal Trauma, Blunt States that 50-75% of trauma is blunt abdominal trauma which is causes mostly in car accidents; referred to as auto-to-auto accidents.
2. ↑  Abdominal Trauma, Blunt States that rarely, blunt abdominal trauma is caused by medical techniques such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (chest-pumping), the heimlich maneuver, and manual thrusts to a clear airway.
3. ↑  Abdominal Trauma, Blunt its own list on procedures used in Abdominal injuries in car accidents.
4. ↑  Abdominal Trauma, Blunt Lists the most damaged internal areas with respect to BAT. Also lists that there has been some body of research that suggests CT scanning of such injuries can lead to development of further concomitant injury.
5. ↑  Abdominal Trauma, Blunt describes methods used for identifying further abdominal injury, and the priorities in the examination of patients, particularly those in CTCC.

References

1. Udeani, J., Ocampo, H. P., Dunn, E., Talavera, F., Sheridan, R. L., Zamboni, P., Geibel, J. (2005) Abdominal Trauma, Blunt eMedicine
2. Corey, T. S., Payne-James, J., Byard, R. W., Henderson, C. (2005) Blunt Injury in Encyclopedia of Forensic and Legal Medicine Elsevier Academic Press, Oxford, ISBN 0-12-547970-0
3. Spitz, W. U, Thomas, C. C, (1993) Blunt Force Injury in 'Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death ISBN 0-398-05818-0.