Abstract
Traumatic diaphragmatic hernia (TDH) is a rather rare disease, but with the increase in the number of traffic accidents and with development of a diagnostic technique many more reports have appeared. We have experienced two such cases with rare associated complications. One patient fell into shock because of pleuritis secondary to a perforated gastric ulcer, and the other developed a pericardial hematoma followed by cardiac tamponade. Both patients were saved by repairing the hernia along with gastrectomy or pericardiotomy.
The incidence of diaphragmatic injury by itself is low (13-30 percent). It is usually associated with other injuries such as ruptured spleen, hemo-pneumothorax, fractured pelvis, limb fracture and rib fracture. The complications presented here are rare with very few reported cases. Diaphragmatic injury consists of either an open or a closed injury. In Japan closed injuries are much more frequent, at a ratio of 5.5:1. TDH arises more frequently in males than in females by about 5:1, and is seen most often in persons in the age group between 20's and 50's.
