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Stable penetrating chest trauma: surgery increasingly avoided

Management of hemodynamically stable penetrating chest trauma without cardiac injury in Marseille
BMC Emergency Medicine · 2026-10-11 · Added 12 October 2026

Ten-year retrospective review of 268 haemodynamically stable penetrating chest injuries in Marseille, where non-operative management was attempted in 78% and failed in fewer than 9%, with hospital stay falling from 7.6 to 5.2 days in the recent period.

Study type

Cohort

Design

Retrospective multicentre cohort

Participants

268 haemodynamically stable patients with penetrating chest trauma sparing the cardiac box

Main finding

Initial non-operative management in 78% of patients; failure rates low and unchanged between periods (8.5% vs 6.5%), with hospital length of stay dropping from 7.6 to 5.2 days after mid-2020

Caveat

Retrospective single-city cohort dominated by stab wounds (86%), so selection criteria for non-operative management aren't transferable to other settings

Bottom line

Context only

Learning goal

Weigh the safety and limits of non-operative management for stable penetrating chest trauma in the Australian prehospital context.

More

• Topic: Trauma
• Daily scan: 12 October 2026
• Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 12 October 2026

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