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Chest Trauma and Thoracic Spine Injuries

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Essential Sports Medicine

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Abstract

Sideline providers should be familiar with a wide range of trauma to the thorax, and catastrophic threat to cardiopulmonary and mediastinal structures must be evaluated first. This includes commotio cordis, pneumothorax, pulmonary contusion, and fractures of the rib and sternum. High-energy and high-contact sports coverage requires proficiency in the few, but critically life-saving, procedures to be performed prior to EMS arrival. Adequate preparation is key, and prompt interventions such as defibrillation and pneumothorax decompression will prove life-saving. Concomitant injuries occur in the setting of chest wall trauma or repetitive overuse. The proper modalities for diagnosis, management, and unique return to play considerations for pectoralis tear, stress fractures of the rib and sternum, slipping rib syndrome, and scapulothoracic bursitis are included in the differential for chest wall injuries.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, NYU Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital, New York, NY, USA

    Ilya Aylyarov

  2. Emergency Department, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and West, New York, NY, USA

    Kevin Kuo

  3. Emergency Department, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Amie Kim

Authors
  1. Ilya Aylyarov
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  2. Kevin Kuo
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  3. Amie Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilya Aylyarov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Gerardo Miranda-Comas

  2. Princeton Spine and Joint Center, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Grant Cooper

  3. Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Joseph Herrera

  4. Princeton Spine and Joint Center, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Scott Curtis

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Aylyarov, I., Kuo, K., Kim, A. (2021). Chest Trauma and Thoracic Spine Injuries. In: Miranda-Comas, G., Cooper, G., Herrera, J., Curtis, S. (eds) Essential Sports Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64316-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64316-4_13

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