Abstract
We report a case of delayed post-traumatic diaphragmatic hernia treated with laparoscopic surgery. A 19-year-old man who had undergone replacement surgery for a traumatic aortic aneurysm 6 months prior, presented with severe precordial pain. Computed tomography (CT) revealed incarceration of the splenic flexure into the left-sided thoracic cavity. An elective laparoscopy was performed, and he was diagnosed with a diaphragmatic hernia. The hernial orifice in the left diaphragm measured 3.0 cm in diameter and was repaired using a direct suture. His postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged 5 days postoperatively. Laparoscopic surgery could effectively diagnose and aid with the treatment in this patient. His previous CT images revealed progression of the traumatic diaphragmatic hernia, from an injury secondary to a traffic accident to the development of the hernia. Diagnosis of a post-traumatic diaphragmatic hernia may be delayed over several days to months ; therefore, the possibility of a diaphragmatic hernia should be considered among the differential diagnoses in cases with blunt thoracoabdominal trauma.
