Health Topic

Chest Injuries and Disorders

Your chest is packed with vital organs, like the esophagus, lungs, and heart. Learn about the different types of chest injuries and chest disorders.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Chest Injuries and Disorders

The chest is the part of your body between your neck and your abdomen (belly). The medical term for your chest is thorax.

Your chest holds many important structures for breathing, digestion, blood circulation, and other important body functions. These structures include your:

  • Ribs and breastbone
  • Esophagus, the tube between your mouth and stomach
  • Trachea, your windpipe
  • Bronchi, the tubes that carry air from your windpipe to your lungs
  • Lungs
  • Pleura, a thin layer of tissue that covers the lungs and lines the inside wall of the chest space
  • Heart and large blood vessels
  • Thymus, a gland that's part of your immune system
  • Nerves

Chest injuries and disorders are problems that affect any of the organs or structures located in your chest.

There are many types of chest injuries and disorders, for example:

  • Broken ribs
  • Esophagus disorders
  • Swallowing disorders, also called dysphagia
  • Tracheal disorders
  • Bronchial disorders
  • Lung diseases and collapsed lung
  • Pleural disorders
  • Heart diseases
  • Mediastinal diseases, which are tumors, inflammation, and other problems with the structures in the mediastinum, which is the space between your lungs, breastbone, and spine
  • Thoracic aortic aneurysm
  • Thoracic outlet syndrome

Chest injuries may happen from the force of car accidents, falls, or sports injuries. Or the chest may be pierced by a bullet or sharp object. Because your chest holds so many important structures, certain chest injuries may be life-threatening.

Diagnosis of chest injuries or disorders depends on the type of symptoms you're having and whether you've had a chest injury. Injuries are usually obvious, but in most cases, you'll need tests to know how serious an injury is.

There are many types of tests for diagnosing different types of chest injuries and disorders, for example:

  • Diagnostic imaging tests
  • Heart tests
  • Lung function tests
  • Bronchoscopy
  • Pleural fluid analysis
  • Dysphagia tests
  • Biopsy

Treatments will depend on the type of chest injury or disorder you have.

It sits within Bones, Joints and Muscles and Injuries and Wounds.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Chest Injuries and Disorders

467 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

Start Here

Diagnosis and Tests

Treatments and Therapies

Living With

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Rib Fractures, Thoracic Injuries, Thoracic Diseases. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Chest Injuries and Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.