Background  Breast trauma is an often under-recognized injury, especially in female polytrauma patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of breast injuries and their association with injury severity score (ISS) in trauma patients nationally.  Method A retrospective review was performed using data from the National Trauma Data Bank® (NTDB®) from 2016 to 2019, using all applicable International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for three outlined subgroups (abrasions, contusions, and open wounds/punctures/lacerations) with minors excluded. All continuous variables were tested as non-normally distributed, and all test results for continuous variables used the Kruskal-Wallis test. All categorical variables were tested using a chi-squared test. Results  Patients with traumatic breast abrasions and contusions had a higher rate of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (23.8%; n=395 and 25.3%; n=48, respectively) compared to patients with open wounds/punctures/lacerations (13.6%; n=205). Patients with abrasions and contusions to the breast had a significantly higher ISS compared to those with visible open wounds/punctures/lacerations (9 and 9, vs 5, p <0.001). Mortality rates were highest among patients with breast abrasions and contusions, 15% (n=213) and 14% (n=23), respectively, compared to patients with open wounds/punctures/lacerations at 11% (n=132), p<0.017. Conclusion  Traumatic breast abrasions and contusions were associated with higher rates of ICU admission, elevated ISS, and overall mortality compared to open breast wounds, punctures, or lacerations. This indicates the importance of traumatic breast injuries as a prognostic indicator in the standard workup of a trauma patient.

Breast injury is commonly encountered yet it remains significantly underreported. Injury to the breast may arise from either primary mechanisms or secondary or iatrogenic mechanisms. Primary mechanisms of breast injury include blunt force, seat-belt, penetrating, and thermal injury. Secondary or iatrogenic mechanisms of breast injury include breast biopsy or intervention as well as operative intervention and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The severity of breast injury arising from these mechanisms is broad, ranging from breast contusion to avulsion. Sequelae of breast injury include fat necrosis and Mondor\'s disease. Radiologists play an integral role in the evaluation and management of breast injury both in the acute and non-acute settings. In the acute setting, radiologists must be able to recognize breast injury arising from primary mechanisms or iatrogenic or secondary mechanisms and to identify rare but potentially life-threatening complications promptly to ensure timely, appropriate management. In the non-acute setting, radiologists must be able to discern the sequalae of breast injury from other processes to prevent potentially unnecessary further evaluation and intervention. Nonetheless, though breast injury is commonly encountered there remain few guidelines and a lack of established recommendations for the evaluation and management of breast injury. We provide a comprehensive multi-modality imaging review of breast injury arising in the acute setting as well as the sequela of breast injury arising in the non-acute setting. Moreover, we provide an overview of the management of breast injury.

Female breasts change throughout a woman\'s life in response to fluctuating hormonal influences. Individuals managing active women and those modeling female breasts must understand these structural and functional changes across a female\'s lifespan because these changes affect breast injuries sustained by women.
We initially review female breast structure and function and then describe how breast structure changes across a woman\'s lifespan. Key studies about direct contact and frictional breast injuries are then summarized. Limitations of current breast injury research, gaps in knowledge about breast injuries incurred by specific populations, and the lack of breast injury models are also highlighted.
With minimal anatomical protection, it is unsurprising that breast injuries occur. Although research about breast injuries is scant, direct contact during blunt force trauma to the anterior chest wall and frictional breast injuries have been reported. There is a lack, however, of research documenting the incidence and severity of breast injuries incurred in occupational settings and in women\'s sports. Therefore, to design effective breast protective equipment, we recommend research to model and investigate the mechanisms and forces involved in breast injuries, particularly injuries sustained during sport.
This unique review summarizes how female breasts change over a woman\'s life span, with implications for breast injuries sustained by females. Knowledge gaps about female breast injuries are highlighted. We conclude by recommending research required to develop evidence-based strategies to improve how we classify, prevent, and clinically manage breast injuries sustained by females.
We review changes to the breast across a woman\'s lifespan, highlighting implications for managing and modeling female breast injuries.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic breast injuries that require surgical intervention are rare and incompletely studied. The study objective was to define the incidence, mechanism/burden of injury, interventions, and outcomes after breast injuries requiring surgery nationally.
METHODS: All patients with breast trauma necessitating surgery were identified from the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) (2006-2017) using ICD-9 and -10 codes, without exclusions. Demographics, injury mechanism/severity, procedures, and outcomes (mortality, hospital length of stay [LOS, days], ICU LOS, and AIS >1 in >1 body regions, defining multisystem trauma) were compared with ANOVA or Chi-squared tests, as appropriate.
RESULTS: In total, 899 patients (.01% of NTDB) met study criteria. Median age was 41 years and most patients were female (n = 802, 89%). Penetrating trauma was the most common injury mechanism (n = 395, 44%), followed by blunt trauma (n = 369, 41%) and burns (n = 135, 15%). Median ISS was higher after blunt trauma than penetrating trauma or burns (10 vs 5 vs 4, P < .001). Laceration repair/mastotomy was the most common procedure among penetrating (n = 354, 90%) and blunt (n = 265, 72%) trauma patients, while mastectomy was the most common after burns (n = 126, 93%). Breast procedures varied significantly by mechanism (P < .001).
CONCLUSIONS: Breast injuries requiring surgery are uncommon. Most occur following penetrating trauma, although injury severity is highest after blunt trauma and mortality is highest after burns. Procedure type, injury severity, and outcomes varied significantly by mechanism of injury, implying that breast trauma should be considered within the context of injury mechanism. These findings may assist with prognostication after breast trauma necessitating surgical intervention.

This study investigated whether female soldiers experience bra integration or breast discomfort/injuries related to body armour use and whether these issues were associated with breast size. Ninety-seven Australian Defence Force female soldiers completed a questionnaire and had their breast volume assessed (range: 91-919 ml/breast) using three-dimensional scanning. Twenty-two percent (n = 21) of participants reported integration issues between their bra and body armour, 63% (n = 61) reported breast discomfort while wearing body armour and 27% (n = 26) reported experiencing a breast injury related to wearing body armour. Although bra-body armour integration was not dependent upon breast size, female soldiers with medium-large breasts reported significantly more breast discomfort and injuries when using body armour compared to participants with small breasts. These findings highlight the importance of developing body armour systems that cater to the range of breast sizes of female soldiers in order to improve bra-body armour integration and reduce breast discomfort and injury. Practitioner summary: This exploratory research provides evidence of bra integration issues, breast discomfort and breast injury experienced by female soldiers when wearing body armour. Given the growing representation of women in military organisations, strategies to alleviate these issues for female users of body armour, particularly those with larger breast sizes, are required.