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# Chest Injuries - **Closed chest injury** results from blunt force trauma to the chest area. It can damage internal organs and cause internal bleeding. The patient may have chest pain when breathing, especially when inhaling, which indicates they may have broken ribs. Both sides of their chest may...

# Chest Injuries - **Closed chest injury** results from blunt force trauma to the chest area. It can damage internal organs and cause internal bleeding. The patient may have chest pain when breathing, especially when inhaling, which indicates they may have broken ribs. Both sides of their chest may not go up and down uniformly as they breathe. Unequal rise and fall may indicate a collapsed lung. To treat a patient with a closed chest injury, provide the same care as you would for a closed soft-tissue injury. - **Flail chest injury** occurs when two or more adjacent ribs are fractured in two or more places due to blunt force trauma. This causes the broken rib pieces to move in the opposite direction from the rest of the chest as the patient breathes. The patient will have intense chest pain and will breathe with short gasps. Watch for both sides of the chest to rise and fall equally as the patient breathes. Be ready to support breathing in these patients. - **Open chest injury** occurs when there is a penetration through the chest wall. Air and blood enter the area surrounding the lungs and create a change in the pressure of the chest cavity. The main treatment for an open chest injury is to seal the wound and monitor for increased breathing difficulty. - **Sucking chest injury** is a type of open chest injury involving a larger hole in the chest wall. As the patient breathes, the air moving through the open hole in the chest causes a sucking sound. Their chest may not rise normally during inhalation.