• B Rozec, J C Rigal, Y Leteurnier, C Lebert, and Y Blanloeil.
• Service d'anesthésie et de réanimation chirurgicale, hôpital Guillaume-et-René-Laennec, BP, Nantes, France.
• Ann Fr Anesth Reanim. 1998 Jan 1;17(9):1160-3.

AbstractA 20-year-old man was admitted after a traffic accident for a closed chest trauma. Initial evaluation showed a sternal fracture with a minor pneumomediastinum. Twenty-four hours later be experienced an acute respiratory failure, due to total left pulmonary atelectasis from indirect compression of the left main stem bronchus. Mediastinal widening at the postero-superior level was visualized by CT scan. The aortogram was normal. Thoracotomy showed a moderate left haemothorax, associated with an intramural haematoma of the low thoracic oesophagus which was respected. The time course was uneventful, except repetitive atelectases treated by fibrescopic aspiration. Oesophageal haematoma secondary to chest trauma is a rare injury, with around 10 cases reported in the literature. Compression of tracheobronchial axis is exceptional. Because of the delayed occurrence of such a complication after chest trauma, with sternal fracture, close clinical surveillance and CT scans are essential.

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