TITLE:
Flail Chest Associated with a Simple Fall and Successful External Tamponade Application in a Pediatric Case
AUTHORS:
Ismail Altintop, Nurcan Gunarli, Mithat Fazlioglu
KEYWORDS:
Flail Chest, Pneumothorax, External Tamponade
JOURNAL NAME:
Case Reports in Clinical Medicine,
Vol.3 No.12,
December
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: A flail chest is characterized by four or more rib fractures unilaterally or at more than two sites. The current article reports a 10-year-old case of a flail chest due to a simple fall from a chair while at breakfast. This pediatric case is presented because of its rare occurrence with a successful external tamponade application. Pneumothorax and tension pneumothorax associated with simple falls should be considered in pediatric patients. In the current case, blunt chest trauma-associated bilateral multiple rib fractures and a flail chest were present. The chest wall was destabilized and respiratory functions were compromised. Early stabilization with tube thoracostomy and external tamponade were achieved in the emergency setting. Intubation was not required after these procedures.