Does Sternal Fracture Increase the Risk for Aortic Rupture

Abstract We retrospectively reviewed the records of 99 patients who suffered sternal fractures between 1968 and 1987. Patients ranged in age from 5 to 86 years. The most common cause of injury was a motor vehicle accident. The 99 patients were compared with a concurrent series of 2,106 patients with chest injuries and no sternal fractures. Traumatic aortic rupture occurred in 2 of 99 patients with sternal fractures (2%) and in 75 of 2,106 patients without sternal fracture (3.6%). This difference was not statistically significant by the Fisher exact test ( p = 0.326). We conclude that traumatic aortic rupture does not occur more commonly in patients with sternal fracture when compared with other patients with blunt chest injuries.