Traumatic tracheal rupture by blunt chest injury; report of a case

Abstract

Tracheal rupture by a blunt trauma is an uncommon injury, and its clinical presentations are variable. It is a kind of the modern hazard. Herewith, we report a successful management of the tracheal rupture. A 22 year-old female was transferred from other hospital 4 hours after a car crash. Physical examination, simple chest X-ray, Chest CT and fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed rupture of the membranous portion of the trachea about 5cm in length extending to the right main bronchus. Ruptured membraous portion of the trachea was sutured directly with absorbable suture. Her postoperative course was uneventful, and follow-up fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed intact membranous portion of the trachea.