title: Disruption in the intrathoracic trachea due to blunt trauma.
abstract: Intrathoracic tracheal disruption by blunt trauma is rare and potentially life threatening. Here report 3 cases of intrathoracic tracheal disruption due to blunt trauma. Two cases, each 43 year old, involved an unrestrained male driver who suffered a head-on crash, while the other, 63 year old, involved a male who suffered compression. Chest roentgenograms on admission showed remarkable deep cervical and mediastinal emphysema in Cases 1 and 2 and mediastinal emphysema alone in Case 3. Bronchoscopy revealed disruption in the trachea. Primary repair was performed through a right posterolateral thoracotomy in Cases 1 and 3 and through a median sternotomy in Case 2. In all cases the postoperative course was uneventful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Negi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iriyama
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugimura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D014132:Trachea / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications*