The Use of the Anatomic 'zones' of the Neck in the Assessment of Penetrating Neck Injury

The traditional classification of neck injuries uses an anatomic description of Zones I through III. The objective of this article was to characterize the association between external wounds and the corresponding internal injuries after penetrating neck trauma to identify the clinical use of the anatomic zones of the neck. Patients who sustained penetrating neck trauma from December 2008 to March 2011 were analyzed. All patients underwent structured clinical examination documenting the external zone where the wound(s) were located. All internal injuries were then correlated with the external wounds. An internal injury was defined as "unexpected" if it was located outside the borders of the neck zone corresponding to the external wound. In total, 146 patients sustaining a penetrating neck injury were analyzed; 126 (86%) male. The mechanism of injury was stab wounds in 74 (51%) and gunshot wounds in 69 (47%). Mean age was 31 years (range, nine to 62 years). Thirty-seven (25%) patients sustained had a total of 50 internal injuries. There was a high incidence of noncorrelation between the location of the external injury and the internal structures that were damaged in patients with hard signs of vascular or aerodigestive injury. The use of the anatomic zones and their role in the workup of penetrating neck injury are questionable.