title: Lung herniation. A cause of chronic chest pain following thoracotomy.
abstract: Chronic chest pain is a common complication following thoracotomy, which is generally attributed to intercostal neuritis or neuralgia. Response to medical treatment is poor. We report a case of persistent chest pain following open lung biopsy, which was found to result from lung herniation, a rare, but surgically correctable complication of thoracotomy. Since lung herniation may be easily overlooked, this disorder should be considered more often in the differential diagnosis of persistent postthoracotomy chest pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Metro Health Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44109.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: DiMarco
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oca
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Renston
mesh_terms: D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D006547:Hernia / Q000209:etiology*; D059685:Herniorrhaphy; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000009:adverse effects*