This talk on penetrating neck injuries is a great summary of how to assess and manage neck wounds from lacerations to the airway to gunshot wounds.

The talk covers relevant anatomy, the zones of the neck and how to investigate vascular, tracheal and oesophageal injuries.

A comprehensive understanding of the relevant anatomy is essential to recognising associated injury patterns. The improvements in the accuracy of helical CTA scans has meant that the delineation of the zones of the neck has become less relevant to the further investigation and management of penetrating neck wounds.

Oesophageal injuries remain difficult to detect and require a high level of clinical suspicion to identify these.