Fractures of the sternum.

The records of 71 patients treated for sternal fracture were reviewed: 52 patients sustained isolated sternal fracture, 19 patients had a sternal fracture in combination with multiple other injuries, with in 12 patients only rib fractures. Forty-one patients were involved in a car accident, 29 of them used safety belts. Three patients (3/71, 4%) died, two multitrauma patients, in whom artificial ventilation was necessary, died of multiple organ failure. One patient with a sternal fracture and bilateral multiple rib fractures died of cardiac contusion and myocardial infarction. Three patients (3/71, 4%) showed signs of myocardial contusion. The morbidity in the patients with an isolated sternal fracture was very low. The prognosis of an isolated sternal fracture is good. Cardiac contusion was an uncommon complication of sternal fracture. Clinical observation for only a short period is advised.