Patients and methods
Study population
This prospective study included consecutive patients with thoracic trauma admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tungs’ Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC (a level I trauma
centre) between March 2005 and December 2008. Exclusion criteria were: (i) patients
treated in an outpatient setting or transferred to another institution; (ii) age