Final results in traumatic haemothorax; a report of 230 cases.

The reports and studies of large numbers of cases of traumatic haemothorax, both during the 1939-45 war and at its termination, were of value from two points of view: they were immediately reflected in the treatment of patients, and they provided a record of developing treatment, which will enable future generations of physicians and surgeons to start where those of 1945 left off, should the need unfortunately arise. Indeed, the medical records of the South African war, the first world war, and the second world war, if studied in association, provide a continuous story of development in this field, both from the medical and from the administrative aspects. In the main, however, these were interim reports, since the patients were for the most part still under treatment at the time. Many of them were transferred to other hospitals to complete their treatment in order to make room for new casualties direct from the battle front. Indeed, some patients were treated in as many as four hospitals in the course of their illness. The Chest Surgery Centre at Shotley Bridge was one of those hospitals where patients remained until final recovery. The complete records were therefore available, and it has seemed worth while to study and analyse the cases so as to present a relatively complete picture of the factors influencing the course of recovery and its duration. The literature of all three wars has been carefully studied, but has been referred to only for purposes of comparison and to provide authority and illustration where this seemed to be essential. The object has been simply to present the experience of the 230 cases, and not to attempt an exhaustive survey of the whole subject.