title: Delayed presentation and surgical management of a bronchial tear.
abstract: Tracheobronchial injuries following blunt trauma to the chest can be life-threatening. However, failure to diagnose can lead to various acute or chronic complications. A delayed presentation is quite rare and its surgical correction is highly challenging. We present here two cases, which came to us after four and six months of trauma respectively. In these patients, successful surgical repair of totally obstructed right main bronchus in the first case and left main bronchus in the other was carried out. The post-operative course was uneventful with improvement in the respiratory status of both the patients. High degree of suspicion and awareness of the possibility of bronchial tear are required for proper management of such cases.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Thoracic Surgery, Anesthesiology and TB and Chest Diseases, Lala Ram Sarup Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: Alok Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Vijay Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Lewate
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaukab
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Arora
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001980:Bronchi / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors