Mandatory medical device diagnostics.
- X-ray of the thorax (radiographic thorax/chest), in two planes.
- In only about 30% of cases are all injuries detected by radiography in blunt trauma. Occult (hidden) injuries are only revealed by computed tomography (CT). Common occult injuries include pulmonary contusions (pulmonary contusions), hematothoraces (accumulation of blood in the pleural space), sternal fractures (fracture of the sternum), pneumothoraces (accumulation of air between the visceral pleura (lung pleura) and the parietal pleura (chest pleura)), and diaphragmatic injuries (diaphragmatic injuries).
- Pleural ultrasonography (ultrasound examination of the pleura (pleura) and pleural space) as part of the “focused abdominal ultrasound in trauma” (FAST) – exclusion of both a pneumothorax and a pleural effusion (accumulation of water between the pleura and the lung).
- Computed tomography (CT) with contrast medium – sectional imaging method (X-ray images from different directions with computer-based evaluation), particularly well suited for the depiction of occult (hidden) injuries or for recording the extent of trauma (pulmonary contusion, hematothorax, pneumothorax)
- Angio-computed tomography (synonym: angio-CT; CT angiography; CT angio; CT vascular imaging) – suspected injury to the great central vessels.
- Transthoracic echocardiography (echo; cardiac ultrasound; when the transducer is placed on the outside of the chest (thorax)) – suspected pericardial tamponade (cardiac tamponade; e.g., fluid collection in the pericardium).
- Pulse oximetry (method for non-invasive determination of arterial oxygen saturation via the measurement of light absorption) – to determine the severity of hypoxia (oxygen deficiency).
- Electrocardiogram (ECG; recording of the electrical activity of the heart muscle).
- Abdominal sonography (ultrasound examination of the abdominal organs) – to exclude concomitant injuries.
- Bronchoscopy (lung endoscopy) – for suspected bronchosrupture (bronchial rupture).
- Tracheobronchoscopy (reflection of the trachea and bronchi) – to exclude tracheobronchial injuries.
