A Case of Traumatic Diaphragmatic Injury Accompanied by a Stomach Prolapse Into the Thorax

Abstract

A 70-year-old female visited our emergency room on foot, following dyspnea which had gradually worsened after she was involved in car accident. A left traumatic diaphragmatic laceration was recognized on CT examination. The dyspnea gradually worsened, so we undertook an emergency laparotomy. Intraoperative findings revealed a defect at the center of the left diaphragm with a diameter of 8 cm, accompanied by prolapse of the stomach into the left thorax. We reduced the escaped stomach and observed the thoracic cavity and the abdominal cavity, but no damage other than the left diaphragm laceration was found. The defect in the left part of the diaphragm was directly sutured closed. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful. We report hereon on this example of a traumatic diaphragmatic injury accompanied by prolapse of the stomach into the thorax with a review of the pertinent literature.