Surgical treatment of post-traumatic tracheobronchial injuries: 14-year experience

Tracheobronchial injuries have different clinical pictures and high mortality unless aggressive treatment is used. We reviewed our surgical experience.

The records of 32 patients from 1988 to 2002 were reviewed. Mean age was 22.3 years (range: 4-53). Three patients were female. Prominent symptoms were dyspnea, subcutaneous air and pneumothorax in chest X-rays. Associated injuries were seen in 22 patients (68.7%): most frequently in the lung parenchyma (11 patients) and esophagus (seven patients). Bronchoscopic detection of a rupture of the trachea or bronchus was the main indication for surgery.

Nineteen injuries (59%) were penetrating and 13 blunt (41%). The most common presenting sign of airway disruption was subcutaneous emphysema (25%) and stridor (22%). Of the 32 patients, 22 underwent bronchoscopic examination. Bronchography was used in three patients admitted during the late period. Surgical morbidity was 19.3%. Seven patients died (21.8%), of whom six had been operated on. In operations performed during the first 2 h of trauma, no mortality occurred. There were associated injuries in 100% of patients that died and in 60% of those that survived. The proportion (100 vs. 24%) and duration (2.8 vs. 11.6 days) of ventilatory support were lower in patients that survived than in those that died. Mean injury severity score of patients that died was 34.7+/-8.8 while it was 24.3+/-8.6 in those that survived. Tracheal stenosis developed in three patients (9.3%).

In civilian life, tracheobronchial injuries occur relatively rarely. Early diagnosis and operative intervention save lives. Associated injury is an important mortality factor.