[ARDS complicated severe chest trauma: a review of 12 cases].

A total of 140 patients of thoracic trauma were admitted and treated in our hospital from 1970 to 1988. Thirty cases conformed the diagnosis of severe chest injury. Among them 12 patients (40%) were complicated by the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with two deaths (16.7%). The diagnosis and treatment of ARDS following severe chest trauma was often-times delayed by the overlapping clinical manifestations of severe chest injury. Patient's condition usually deteriorates rapidly. Authors suggest early tracheotomy and appropriate mechanical ventilation as one of the major measures to decrease mortality.