TITLE:
Right Main Bronchus Disruption Discovered after One Year of Blunt Chest Trauma
AUTHORS:
Mohamed Alhaj Moustafa
KEYWORDS:
Blunt Chest Trauma, Tracheobronchial Injuries, Bronchial Reconstruction
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Thoracic Surgery,
Vol.12 No.4,
October
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Central airway injury is a very rare entity during blunt chest trauma. It
is serious and may be fatal. Usually, it has fundamental manifestations but in some cases, it is insidious and has been discovered
lately. It’s suspected when major air leaks from the chest tube and the lung
fail to expand despite adequate chest drainage. Right main bronchus injuries
are the most frequent. Diagnosis can be suspected clinically and confirmed by
Ct scan and bronchoscopy. Conservative management can be applied in special
cases but the majority of cases need
surgical intervention which depends on primary reconstruction. An early diagnosis and treatment can avoid
dramatic complications and provide complete recovery. Associated other organ
injury is common and is an important mortality factor. Close cooperation with
the emergency team and anesthesiologists is necessary. Here I presented a case
of right main bronchus disruption discovered after one year of blunt chest
trauma with complete lung atelectasis, managed successfully by resection of the
fibrotic injured bronchus and primary reconstruction saving the lung.