[Post-traumatic hernia of the diaphragm]

The paper reports the series of post-traumatic hernias of the diaphragm observed during the period between 1954 and June 1992. This group of 77 patients (59 males and 18 females) were aged between 6 and 75 years old. Both acute and chronic hernias were reported; in 60 cases the diaphragmatic lesion was on the left, in 9 cases on the right, and there were 8 cases of laceration to both hemidiaphragms. The most frequently herniated organ was the stomach, followed by the transverse colon and spleen. With regard to the access route used, the authors draw attention to the fact that during the first twenty years of the series thoracotomies were prevalently used, whereas during the last decade laparotomy has been used in cases of early post-traumatic hernia, thoracotomy in cases of chronic post-traumatic hernia or if there is suspected damage to organs and intrathoracic structures.