Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 26, 2021; 9(15): 3773-3778
Published online May 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i15.3773
Contralateral hemopneumothorax after penetrating thoracic trauma: A case report
Mehlika İşcan
Mehlika İşcan, Thoracic Surgery Department, Gebze Fatih State Hospital, Kocaeli 41400, Gebze, Turkey
Author contributions: İşcan M was the patient’s thoracic surgeon, reviewed the literature, and analyzed and interpreted the imaging findings; İşcan M wrote and revised the manuscript; İşcan M issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The author has read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mehlika İşcan, MD, Surgeon, Thoracic Surgery Department, Gebze Fatih State Hospital, Gebze Fatih Devlet Hastanesi Poliklinik Binası 3.kat, Göğüs Cerrahisi Polikliniği, Kocaeli 41400, Gebze, Turkey. mehlikaiscan@gmail.com
Received: January 9, 2021
Peer-review started: January 9, 2021
First decision: January 17, 2021
Revised: January 30, 2021
Accepted: March 17, 2021
Article in press: March 17, 2021
Published online: May 26, 2021
Processing time: 121 Days and 19.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Trauma is the leading cause of death in young adults up to the age of 45 years. Hemothorax is a frequent consequence of penetrating thoracic trauma, and is usually associated with pneumothorax and pneumoderma. Intercostal arterial bleeding or intrathoracic hemorrhage occurs after penetrating thoracic trauma, and uncontrolled bleeding is the main cause of death.

CASE SUMMARY

In this case report, a patient who developed a right hemopneumothorax after penetrating thoracic trauma was examined. A 19-year-old male patient, who was brought to the emergency room with a penetrating stab injury to the posterior of the left hemithorax, was diagnosed with a right hemopneumothorax after physical examination and thoracic imaging. Chest tube thoracostomy was performed as the initial intervention. Bleeding control was achieved with right posterolateral thoracotomy in the patient, who developed massive hemorrhage after 1 h and hemodynamic instability. The patient recovered and was discharged on the fourth postoperative day.

CONCLUSION

Contralateral hemopneumothorax that accounts for 30% of thoracic traumas and can be encountered in penetrating thoracic traumas requiring major surgery in 15-30% of cases was emphasized and the contralateral development mechanism was addressed.

Keywords: Chest tube; Contralateral hemopneumothorax; Penetrating thoracic trauma; Thoracotomy; Thoracic surgery; Tube thoracostomy; Case report

Core Tip: Trauma is the leading cause of death in young adults up to the age of 45 years. Hemothorax is a frequent consequence of penetrating thoracic trauma, and is usually associated with pneumothorax and pneumoderma. Contralateral thoracic trauma is rare and easily overlooked in the initial evaluation. Here, we review the clinical presentation, radiographic features, diagnosis and treatment for contralateral hemopneumothorax after penetrating thoracic trauma.