Contusions of the Lung From Nonpenetrating Injuries to the Thorax

Contusion of the Lung in Childhood

“…Haemoptysis, dyspnoea and cough, the expected findings accompanying lung damage, were absent in our cases. This is at variance with the findings of Sealy (1949) who found haemoptysis in 35 out of 40 adults with contusion of the lung due to non-penetrating injury.…”

“…The possible causes of the lung shadows appearing in the radiograph are interstitial haematoma (Major, 1956), acute localized oedema (Zenker, 1956; Barrett, 1960), patchy confluent atelectasis (Major, 1956), and intra-alveolar haemorrhage (Sealy, 1949). Probably all the above factors play some part in the production of the lung opacities.…”

“…They should be kept under observation in hospital until the lungs are clear. This generally occurs within three weeks (Sealy, 1949;Westermark, 1941;Greening, Kynette and Hodes, 1957).…”