Abstract
Tracheobronchial disruption due to chest trauma is relatively rare.
Almost all patients with traumatic tracheobronchial disruption develop subcutaneous emphysema and severe dyspnea soon after injury. Usually, early diagnosis and adequate management are important to save these patients.
We experienced a case of left main bronchial disruption diagnosed from left pulmonary atelectasis appearing 8 days after injury. A 26-year-old man who had suffered from blunt chest trauma was transferred to our hospital 6 days after the injury. Chest CT showed neither pneumothorax nor mediastinal emphysema. At 8 days after the injury, he developed left pulmonary atelectasis, and fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed a complete obstruction of left main bronchus. He underwent a resection of the disrupted portion and an end to end anastomosis of left main bronchus. It should be emphasized that we should suspect tracheobronchial disruption whenever we evaluate patients with blunt chest trauma.
