Retrosternal hematoma in sternal fracture for prediction of concomitant injury on chest CT.

Background: Isolated sternal fracture, a benign injury, has been increasing in the pan-scan era, although one-third of patients with sternal fracture still has trouble with concomitant injury. The differentiation of these two entities is important to optimize patient management.

Purpose: To evaluate correlation between retrosternal hematoma and concomitant injury in patients with sternal fracture and to identify predicting factors for concomitant injury in sternal fracture.

Material And Methods: A total of 139 patients (84 men; mean age = 54.9 ± 15.3 years) with traumatic sternal fracture were enrolled in this study. We reviewed medical charts and multiplanar computed tomography (CT) images to evaluate cause, location, and degree of sternal fracture, retrosternal hematoma, and concomitant injury. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify variables that were associated with concomitant injury.

Results: Concomitant injury on chest CT was observed in 85 patients with sternal fracture. Of the patients, 98 (70.5%) were accompanied by retrosternal hematoma. Multivariate analysis revealed that retrosternal hematoma (odds ratio [OR] = 5.350;  < 0.001), manubrium fracture (OR = 6.848;  = 0.015), and motor vehicle accident (OR = 0.342;  = 0.015) were significantly associated with sternal fracture with concomitant injury.

Conclusion: Manubrium fracture and retrosternal hematoma portend a high risk of concomitant injury and indicate the need for further clinical and radiologic work-up.