What is it about?
This is the first case to be reported in the literature whereby a car accident victim suffered a fracture of the clavicle (collar bone) and the developed a pneumothorax (air in a potential space surrounding the lungs) hours after the accident. A chest tube which was placed in this potential space removed the air from the space and the tube was then electively removed. The pneumothorax then re occurred and the tube had to be placed again. After it was not resolving, the clavicle was surgically managed and a plate and screw construct was used to fix the clavicle. The pneumothorax resolved the following day.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
The lung injury is a life threatening injury which if missed may prove fatal. It does not commonly occur in combination with a fracture collar bone but it must be ruled out by a doctors' examination as well as a chest X-ray to avoid a potential fatality.
Perspectives
This the first time this presentation has been described in the literature and only the second operative case described in the literature to address this combination of injuries.
Doctor CARY Keith FLETCHER
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A delayed and recurrent pneumothorax complicating a fractured clavicle – A novel presentation, Trauma Case Reports, April 2020, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.tcr.2020.100294.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
