title: Bronchial rupture caused by blunt chest injury.
abstract: We have surgically treated six patients with bronchial rupture caused by blunt chest injury in the past 5 years. All injuries resulted from traffic accidents, except in one patient who was hit by a crane. Clinical manifestations included chest pain (n = 6), subcutaneous emphysema (n = 4), and dyspnea (n = 6). Roentgenographic findings were tension (n = 3) or nontension (n = 3) pneumothorax, subcutaneous emphysema (n = 4), pneumomediastinum (n = 3), deep cervical emphysema (n = 5), and delayed collapse of the affected lung (n = 3). Three patients had associated injuries: right clavicle and rib fractures in the first; right humeral, scapular, and multiple rib fractures and left sternoclavicular joint dislocation in the second; and left clavicle fracture in the third. These six patients all underwent immediate tube thoracostomy and then bronchoplasty. Bronchoplasty was performed within 3 days in four patients and on days 16 and 30, respectively, in the other two patients. The affected lung demonstrated full expansion in all patients immediately after bronchoplasty. Follow-up bronchoscopy showed good patency of all bronchi.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Tseng
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001980:Bronchi / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012421:Rupture; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications*