[Open combined thoracic and abdominal wounds (author's transl)].

We report 27 open wounds of the thorax and abdomen combined, which were treated during one year on the hospitalship "Helgoland" in Vietnam. The patients came from every age group. 12 of the wounded were male, 15 were female. Hemopneumothorax was the most frequent finding in the thoracic wounds. With abdominal wounds the organs of the upper abdomen were mainly involved. We found it best to begin treatment with closed chest-tube drainage in order to bring the chest wound under control, then to proceed with laparatomy. Only in a few cases was a thoracotomy necessary. 4 of the 27 wounded died.