Oman medical journal
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Traumatic asphyxia, or Perthe's syndrome, is a rare clinical syndrome characterized by cervicofacial cyanosis, petechiae, subconjunctival hemorrhage, neurological symptoms, and thoracic injury. It affects both adults and children after blunt chest traumas. The diagnosis of this condition is based mainly on the specific clinical signs, which should immediately bring to mind the severity of the trauma, the various probable types of pulmonary injuries, and the need for screening and careful assessment of other organs that might also be injured. ⋯ As traumatic asphyxia is a systemic injury, careful assessment of the patient and looking for other injuries is mandatory. Treatment usually involves supportive measures to the affected organs, but surgical intervention may sometimes prove to be an important part of the treatment. Bronchoscopy should be performed for diagnostic and therapeutic reasons because of the associated pulmonary and possible tracheobronchial injuries.