Chest
selected reports: Case Reports: Journal ArticleDelayed Perforation of the Esophagus by a Closed Thoracostomy Tube
Section snippets
CASE REPORT
A 25-year-old male patient was transferred to our facility 18 h following a motor vehicle accident. He was an unrestrained driver of a car who lost control and struck a telephone pole at high speed. On presentation, the patient was in hypovolemic shock with multiple blunt injuries. These included severe head trauma (Glasgow coma score of 4), multiple rib fractures with a right flail chest and hemothorax, abdominal trauma with a positive peritoneal lavage, and multiple pelvic fractures. A
DISCUSSION
The complications of tube thoracostomy can be divided into two categories: (1) technical, and (2) infectious. The technical complications can be further subdivided into the following: (a) inadequate function as a result of malposition or undersuction/oversuction, and (b) injury to chest wall structures, and intrathoracic or intra-abdominal viscera.1, 2, 3 In the latter category, injury to the intercostal vessels is the most common, followed by laceration of the lung, diaphragm, stomach, liver,
REFERENCES (5)
- et al.
Complications of tube thoracostomy for acute trauma
Am J Surg
(1980) - et al.
Chest tubes: indications technique, management and complications
Chest
(1987)