[Blunt chest trauma with total rupture of the right main stem bronchus--a case report]

Tracheo-bronchial lesions in blunt chest trauma are rare--the incidence is about 1%--but potentially life-threatening events. Indirect signs such as pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema or an insufficient expansion of the lungs after drainage of a pneumothorax are ominous. The fastest and most reliable method to assess the definite diagnosis of tracheo-bronchial lesion is fibre-optic tracheobronchoscopy. Early surgical treatment is mandatory to prevent major pulmonary resection. This case shows that computer tomography might fail to provide the right diagnosis. Independent lung ventilation is an option to protect the bronchial anastomosis during the early postoperative period. Reported here is the case of a young man who sustained a total traumatic rupture of the right main stem bronchus after being thrown from the passenger seat through the windshield of a motor vehicle. When the emergency doctor arrived on the scene, he found the patient with dyspnoea and massive thoracic subcutaneous emphysema. Reduced breath sounds on the left and no breath sounds on the right side led to an immediate placement of two chest tubes and controlled mechanical ventilation. After primary care in a district hospital, the patient was transferred to our university hospital for further treatment of his head injury. On admission, the patient was making breath sounds on both sides and a CT scan showed no clear sign of a tracheo-bronchial lesion. After neurosurgical intervention, the diagnosis of a rupture of the right main stem bronchus was made with delay by fibre-optic bronchoscopy. The patient was intubated with a left-sided double lumen endotracheal tube followed by surgical end-to-end anastomosis of the lesion. The initial postoperative ventilator support consisted of BIPAP-mode ventilation of the left lung, while the right lung was kept open with positive airway pressure. Forty-eight hours later, synchronised independent lung ventilation with two ventilators was established to protect the surgical result. The ventilation was switched to conventional mode a further 48 hours later. Extubation and the remaining ICU stay were uneventful.