J Korean Soc Traumatol.
2006 Dec;19(2):201-205.
A Case of Tension Viscerothorax: A Rare Complication of Diaphragmatic Rupture after Blunt Abdominal Trauma
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Korea. kslim@amc.seoul.kr
Abstract
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Tension viscerothorax (gastrothorax) is rare life-threatening disease which is caused by air trapped in viscera.
A distended viscera in the hemi-thorax shifts the mediastinal structures and causes extra-cardiac obstructive
shock. A defective diaphragm is caused by abdominal trauma or a congenital anomaly. Traumatic diaphragmatic
injury can be missed until herniation develops several years after blunt trauma. In our case, a 10-year old boy
developed hemodynamic compromise in the emergency department. Three years earlier, he had suffered blunt
abdominal trauma during a pedestrian traffic accident, but there was no evidence of diaphragmatic injury at
that time. He was successfully resuscitated by gastric decompression and an emergent thoracic operation. The
operation finding revealed a traumatic diaphragmatic injury. Tension viscerothorax is a rare, but catastrophic,
condition, so we suggest that addition of tension viscerothorax to the Advanced Trauma and Life Support
(ATLS) guidelines may be helpful.