[Traumatic right bundle branch block (author's transl)]

Myocardial contusion is a common, but often undiagnosed complication of a blunt chest trauma and is frequently accompanied by cardiac arrhythmias. Right bundle branch block is an arrhythmia that generally subsides spontaneously. The case of an adult patient is reported who sustained multiple facial fractures in a car accident. The admission ECG showed right bundle branch block without any haemodynamic effects. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit. After 20 hours the right bundle branch block disappeared spontaneously and one month later, after two facial plastic operations, the patient could be discharged. Some of the clinical features and complications of myocardial contusion and diagnostic methods for its detection are reviewed.