Conservative surgical treatment of valvular injury after blunt chest trauma

Background. Blunt injury to the cardiac valves leads to progressive ventricular failure often requiring surgical management. Most frequently, prosthetic replacement is the chosen management. Methods. Three consecutive patients presenting to one surgeon with blunt traumatic valve lesions formed the study group. Results. At operation, the valvular pathology was assessed, and reparative techniques were used to correct the defects. All the patients had an excellent outcome at follow-up periods of 2 to 3 years. Conclusions. Conservative operation to repair traumatic valve lesions is feasible and has potential advantages over replacement.