Long tracheobronchial and esophageal rupture after blunt chest trauma: Injury by airway bursting

Acute Tracheoesophageal Burst Injury After Blunt Chest Trauma: Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…[2][3][4] Based on the pattern and mechanism of injury, we concur with Martín de Nicolás et al, 4 who described this as an "intrathoracic bursting injury". The fact that the majority of reported cases seemed to occur without rib fractures in young patients suggests that blunt force compression of an elastic chest wall, possibly in full inspiration, transfers the full kinetic energy of impact directly and uniformly to the pulmonary alveoli, which then empty instantaneously into the major airways.…”

“…The importance of distinguishing late presentation TEF from TEBI is recognized. 3,4 Usually because of penetration or minor injury, a traumatic TEF forms between the tracheal and esophageal walls when local ischemia or inflammation induces fistulization, 2,3,5,6 a process requiring 3 to 10 days. 2,5-9 Our review specifically excludes this pathological finding.…”

Isolated tracheal rupture caused by blunt trauma and the importance of early diagnosis: a case report

“…Depending upon the result of the endoscopy, the structure of the lesion can be visualized, and then the decision can be made either to operate or follow conservative treatment [1,3,5,7,14].…”

“…If there is a doubt, an exact diagnosis can be made by the use of bronchoscopy and oesophagoscopy [1,[4][5][6]14,15]. The emphysema might be seen in tracheal rupture, thorax graphs, mediastinum and cervical graphs [16].…”

Delayed Presentation of Thoracic Esophageal Perforation after Blunt Trauma

“…Thoracic esophageal perforation secondary to blunt trauma is a rare injury, with few cases reported to date (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). The diagnosis can be difficult to make, especially in the setting of multiple severe injuries.…”