Clinic of thoracic surgery, Clinical Centre of the University in Sarajevo

Penetrating chest injuries are the most frequent causes of serious demage and death in wound-ed indivisuals. In reports from the last wars where wounds caused by high velocity projectiles predominated, thoracotomies were perfomed in about of the wounded individuals, mostly encompassing injuries of the heart and great vessels, accomanied by massive bleeding that could not be resolved by chest tube insertion. Th is retrospective analysis was performed on the medical records of patients tretaed for isolated penetrating chest injuries in Department of Th oracic Surgery Clinical Center of the University in Sarajevo between april - june . We analised the ways of their menage-ment with special view on pleural drainage, indication for this method and results of treatment. (,) wounded individuals have been treated with pleural tube inserting as defi nitive mesaure and for the urgent thoracotomy there were (,) patients left. Average hospital treatment in wounded drained patients was , days. With shrapnels there were (,) wounded individuals, and with bullet (,) wounded individuals. Th e complications of plaural tube inserting were- empyema in (,) patients and there were no other com-plications. Chest tube inserting as defi nitive mesaure was used in (,) patients. Chest tube inserting as preoperative measure (urgent thoracotomy) was used in (,) patients. Th ere were (,) healed patients. Death occurred in (,) patients. KEY WORDS: Chest injuries, pleural drainage pleural drainage and its role in management of the isolated penetrating chest injuries during the war time in sarajevo, 1992.-1995