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Traumatic viscerothorax mimicking giant lung bullae

Traumatic viscerothorax

Clinical Image • doi:10.4328/ECAM.47 • Published: 01.05.2015 • Eu Clin Anal Med 2015;3(2):00

Authors

Muhammet Sayan1, Ali Çelik2
Affiliations

1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Aksaray State Hospital, Aksaray, Türkiye.

2Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye.

Corresponding Author

Muhammet Sayan

drsayann@yahoo.com

+90 382 213 10 43

A 60-year-old man was admitted to the emergency clinic with complaints of palpitations and dyspnea. His past medical history included a car accident and pelvic fracture. Chest X-ray revealed a suspicious large lung bulla, prompting a chest computed tomography (CT) scan. The CT scan demonstrated a complete viscerothorax (Figure 1). A nasogastric tube was inserted, and the operating room was prepared; however, the patient declined surgical intervention.
Traumatic viscerothorax is the migration of abdominal viscera, particularly the stomach and colon, into the thoracic cavity through a ruptured diaphragm.1 Clinical and radiological findings of viscerothorax can mimic giant lung bullae. Therefore, viscerothorax should be considered in the differential diagnosis of giant lung bullae, as the management strategies for these conditions differ significantly. Viscerothorax constitutes a surgical emergency, and emergency surgery is required following nasogastric tube placement.2

Declarations

Animal and Human Rights Statement

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

None.

Scientific Responsibility Statement

The authors declare that they are responsible for the scientific content of the article, including the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, manuscript preparation, and approval of the final version of the manuscript.

References

  1. McCann B, O’Gara A. Tension viscerothorax: an important differential for tension pneumothorax. Emerg Med J. 2005;22(3):220-221. doi:10.1136/emj.2003.008367
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  2. Ahn S, Kim W, Sohn CH, Seo DW. Tension viscerothorax after blunt abdominal trauma: a case report and review of the literature. J Emerg Med. 2012;43(6):451-453.
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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1. Free air space on left side and contralaterally mediastinal shift (This view resembles a left side giant lung bullae)(a). Air-fluid level on left hemithorax as like a fluid containing giant lung bullae (b). Totally herniation of abdominal viscera to the left chest cavity (c, d).

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How to Cite This Article

Muhammet Sayan, Ali Çelik. Traumatic viscerothorax mimicking giant lung bullae. Eu Clin Anal Med 2015;3(2):00. doi:10.4328/ECAM.47

Received:
January 9, 2015
Accepted:
January 21, 2015
Published Online:
January 22, 2015
Printed:
May 1, 2015