@article{ref1,
title="Fracture of the shoulder girdle in multiply injured patients - an imperative for a high level of suspicion for associated neurovascular injuries",
journal="Patient safety in surgery",
year="2013",
author="Krasnici, Senat and Schmidt, Jörg and Reimann, Kolja and Ertel, Wolfgang and Topp, Tobias",
volume="7",
number="1",
pages="24-24",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The combination of a bony injury to the shoulder girdle and damage to the brachial plexus and the subclavian vessels is a rare finding. The cases of this combined injury pattern described in the literature are most notably reported in multiply-injured patients after high velocity trauma. FINDINGS: Three cases were admitted to our hospital after motorcycle accidents resulting in a combination of severe bony injuries to the shoulder girdle, to the subclavian artery and a lesion to the brachial plexus. Based on these three clinical cases the patterns of injury, as well as primary and secondary treatment approaches are presented. CONCLUSION: The early detection of these injuries can be difficult in given acute, life threatening injuries addressed first in these multiply injured patients. A high level of suspicion, in conjunction with standardized ATLS based institutional protocols for secondary and tertiary survey, should increase the likelihood of a timely detection and early management of these rare but potentially devastating injuries.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1754-9493",
doi="10.1186/1754-9493-7-24",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1754-9493-7-24"
}