Table 4.
Patient characteristicsa
| Overall n = 98 |
Sternum CONS Spine CONS n = 43 |
Sternum CONS Spine OP n = 41 |
Sternum OP Spine CONS n = 7 |
Sternum OP Spine OP n = 7 |
p value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years, mean (range) | 49 | (16–93) | 52 | (24–93) | 43 | (16–76) | 52 | (27–73) | 57 | (19–85) | 0.044* |
| Gender (male) | 69 | (70) | 34 | (79) | 28 | (68) | 3 | (43) | 3 | (43) | 0.164 |
| Mechanism of injury, n (%) | 0.013* | ||||||||||
| Fall ≤ 3 m | 13 | (13) | 1 | (2) | 8 | (20) | 2 | (29) | 2 | (29) | |
| Fall > 3 m | 19 | (19) | 7 | (16) | 10 | (24) | 0 | 2 | (29) | ||
| Traffic | 62 | (63) | 34 | (79) | 21 | (51) | 5 | (71) | 2 | (29) | |
| Other | 4 | (4) | 1 | (2) | 2 | (5) | 0 | 1 | (14) | ||
| Sternal fracture characteristics | |||||||||||
| Injury type, n (%) | 0.561 | ||||||||||
| Fracture | 97 | (99) | 43 | (100) | 40 | (98) | 7 | (100) | 7 | (100) | |
| Subluxation | 1 | (1) | 0 | 1 | (2) | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Number of sternal fractures, n (%) | 0.099 | ||||||||||
| 1 fracture | 83 | (85) | 40 | (93) | 33 | (81) | 5 | (71) | 5 | (71) | |
| 2 fractures | 15 | (15) | 3 | (7) | 8 | (20) | 2 | (29) | 2 | (29) | |
| Sternal fracture location, n (%) b | |||||||||||
| Manubrium | 42 | (43) | 24 | (56) | 13 | (32) | 3 | (43) | 2 | (29) | 0.138 |
| MS-joint | 16 | (16) | 1 | (2) | 11 | (27) | 1 | (14) | 3 | (43) | 0.001* |
| Sternal body | 54 | (55) | 20 | (47) | 25 | (61) | 5 | (71) | 4 | (57) | 0.485 |
| Xiphoid process | 1 | (1) | 1 | (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | |||
| Dislocation of sternal fracture, n (%) | 10 | (10) | 1 | (2) | 6 | (15) | 0 | 3 | (43) | 0.010* | |
| Spinal fracture characteristics | |||||||||||
| AOSpine classification, n (%) | < 0.001* | ||||||||||
| A | 50 | (51) | 36 | (84) | 6 | (15) | 7 | (100) | 1 | (14) | |
| B | 34 | (35) | 6 | (14) | 25 | (61) | 0 | 3 | (43) | ||
| C | 14 | (14) | 1 | (2) | 10 | (24) | 0 | 3 | (43) | ||
| Spinal fracture location, n (%) c | |||||||||||
| Upper cervical (C0-C2) d | 2 | (2) | 1 | (2) | 0 | 1 | (14) | 0 | 0.267 | ||
| Cervical subaxial (C3-C7) | 15 | (15) | 12 | (28) | 3 | (7) | 0 | 0 | 0.037* | ||
| Upper thoracic (T1-T4) | 22 | (22) | 8 | (19) | 9 | (22) | 3 | (43) | 2 | (29) | 0.437 |
| Thoracic (T5-T9) | 28 | (29) | 7 | (16) | 15 | (37) | 3 | (43) | 3 | (43) | 0.083 |
| Thoracolumbar (T10-L2) | 37 | (38) | 19 | (44) | 15 | (37) | 1 | (14) | 2 | (29) | 0.485 |
| Lower lumbar (L3-L5) d | 2 | (2) | 2 | (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.629 | |||
| Neurological status, n (%) | < 0.001* | ||||||||||
| Neurological deficit (N1–N4) | 21 | (21) | 1 | (2) | 17 | (42) | 0 | 3 | (43) | ||
| Unknown (NX) | 2 | (2) | 1 | (2) | 1 | (2) | 0 | 0 | |||
| Associated injuries | |||||||||||
| Associated thoracic injuries, n (%) | 82 | (83) | 36 | (84) | 34 | (83) | 6 | (86) | 6 | (86) | 1.000 |
| Rib fracture | 70 | (71) | 30 | (70) | 30 | (73) | 5 | (71) | 5 | (71) | 0.979 |
| Clavicular fracture | 19 | (19) | 8 | (19) | 7 | (17) | 2 | (29) | 2 | (29) | 0.768 |
| Lung contusion | 39 | (40) | 24 | (56) | 13 | (32) | 1 | (14) | 1 | (14) | 0.022* |
| Pneumothorax | 40 | (41) | 19 | (44) | 18 | (44) | 2 | (29) | 1 | (14) | 0.479 |
| Haemothorax | 25 | (26) | 9 | (21) | 13 | (32) | 1 | (14) | 2 | (29) | 0.628 |
| Cardiac contusion | 7 | (7) | 3 | (7) | 4 | (10) | 0 | 0 | 0.905 | ||
| Other thoracic injuries | 23 | (24) | 10 | (23) | 8 | (20) | 2 | (29) | 3 | (43) | 0.581 |
| Other associated injuries, n (%) | 50 | (51) | 24 | (56) | 22 | (54) | 2 | (29) | 2 | (29) | 0.374 |
| Cerebral injury | 18 | (18) | 7 | (16) | 10 | (24) | 0 | 1 | (14) | 0.519 | |
| Abdominal injury | 22 | (22) | 14 | (33) | 8 | (20) | 0 | 0 | 0.099 | ||
| Extremity injury | 41 | (42) | 19 | (44) | 18 | (44) | 2 | (29) | 2 | (29) | 0.793 |
| FU in months, median [IQR] | 17 | (8–24) | 12 | (5–25) | 17 | (8–23) | 24 | (17–24) | 24 | (24–24) | 0.072 |
CONS conservative treatment, OP operative treatment, MS-joint manubriosternal joint, IQR interquartile range, FU follow-up duration
*Statistically significant difference (p < 0.05)
aDue to rounding off, percentages might not add up to 100%
bSternal fracture location is displayed as the percentage of patients with a sternal fracture in a particular location. 15 patients had two sternal fractures and were counted in two groups
cSpinal fracture location is displayed as the percentage of patients with a spinal fracture in a particular location. 8 patients had spinal fractures of similar severity in multiple spinal levels and were counted in two groups
dPatients with only upper cervical or lower lumbar spinal fractures were not included in any study. However, four patients had upper cervical or lower lumbar fractures in combination with other spinal fractures