Abstract
In Japan, traumatic diaphragmatic hernias are caused by blunt trauma and tend to occur in the acute phase.
Delayed-onset diaphragmatic hernia, as in this case, is rare. A 26-year-old female had been treated at another hospital four months previously for a stab wound. Lung injury and traumatic pneumothorax improved with conservative treatment. Two months after discharge, chest X-ray showed an elevated diaphragm with a mass-like shadow.
By chest CT, the liver was shown to be protruding into the thoracic cavity at the top of the right diaphragm, suggesting traumatic diaphragmatic hernia. The diaphragmatic hernia was growing, and surgery was performed six
months after the initial injury. A defect in the center of the diaphragm tendon and protrusion of the liver into the
thoracic cavity were observed. The liver was repositioned in the abdominal cavity, and the diaphragm defect was
sutured. On postoperative chest X-ray, the mass-like shadow on the diaphragm disappeared.
