The CT fallen-lung sign

Severe non-cardiovascular thoracic trauma: diagnostic clues on computed tomography

OBJECTIVE

About 60% of multiple trauma patients have thoracic trauma, and thoracic trauma results in the death of 10% of these patients. Computed tomography (CT) is the most sensitive and specific imaging modality for the diagnosis of acute disease, and it helps in the management and prognostic evaluation of patients with high-impact trauma. This paper aims to show the practical points that are key for diagnosing severe non-cardiovascular thoracic trauma by CT.

CONCLUSION

Knowing the key features of severe acute thoracic trauma on CT is crucial to avoid diagnostic errors. Radiologists play a fundamental role in the accurate early diagnosis of severe non-cardiovascular thoracic trauma, because the patient's management and outcome will depend largely on the imaging findings.

Post-intubation iatrogenic tracheobronchial injuries: The state of art

Iatrogenic tracheobronchial injury (ITI) is an infrequent but potentially life-threatening disease, with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Its incidence is presumably underestimated since several cases are underrecognized and underreported. Causes of ITI include endotracheal intubation (EI) or percutaneous tracheostomy (PT). Most frequent clinical manifestations are subcutaneous emphysema, pneumomediastinum and unilateral or bilateral pneumothorax, even if occasionally ITI can occur without significant symptoms. Diagnosis mainly relies on clinical suspicion and CT scan, although flexible bronchoscopy remains the gold standard, allowing to identify location and size of the injury. EI and PT related ITIs more commonly consist of longitudinal tear involving the pars membranacea. Based on the depth of tracheal wall injury, Cardillo and colleagues proposed a morphologic classification of ITIs, attempting to standardize their management. Nevertheless, in literature there are no unambiguous guidelines on the best therapeutic modality: management and its timing remain controversial. Historically, surgical repair was considered the gold standard, mainly in high-grade lesions (IIIa-IIIb), carrying high morbi-mortality rates, but currently the development of promising endoscopic techniques through rigid bronchoscopy and stenting could allow for bridge treatment, delaying surgical approach after improving general conditions of the patient, or even for definitive repair, ensuring lower morbi-mortality rates especially in high-risk surgical candidates. Our perspective review will cover all the above issues, aiming at providing an updated and clear diagnostic-therapeutic pathway protocol, which could be applied in case of unexpected ITI.

Anesthetic management of tracheal laceration from traumatic dislocation of the first rib: a case report and literature of the review

Background

Tracheobronchial lacerations from trauma can be life-threatening and present significant challenges for safe anesthetic management. Early recognition of tracheal injuries and prompt airway control can be lifesaving.

Case presentation

A 56-year-old man with no significant medical history presented with difficulty breathing after a blunt trauma to his chest to the emergency room and was diagnosed with dislocation of the first rib and tracheal laceration after a chest tomography (CT) study. Subcutaneous emphysema in neck area quickly worsened indicating continuous air leak. Emergent surgical repair was scheduled. General anesthesia with maintaining spontaneous ventilation was performed and a 5.5 mm endotracheal tube was placed under the guidance of flexible bronchoscopy. Depth of anesthesia was maintained to achieve a Bispectral Index Score of 40–60. Once the offending first rib was removed, a 7.5 mm endotracheal tube was inserted distal to the laceration site with the guidance of flexible bronchoscopy. Once confirmed location of the endotracheal tube, cisatracurium was administered intravenously and the patient was managed on mechanical ventilation with interval positive pressure ventilation. The operation was successful and he was transferred to the ICU intubated. He then received elective surgical repairs for sternum fracture, multiple rib fractures and hemopneumothorax under general anesthesia on day 5 after the first surgery and was extubated on postoperative day 7. The subsequent course was uneventful. Comprehensive rehabilitation was done for 2 weeks and he was discharged home on postoperative day 41.

Conclusions

Early diagnosis and multidisciplinary collaborations are keys to the successful management of this patient. Flexible bronchoscopy is particularly useful in airway management for urgent trachea tracheal laceration repair.

Imaging and Management of Thoracic Trauma

Thoracic injury results from penetrating and blunt trauma and is a major contributor to overall trauma morbidity and mortality in the United States. Modern imaging algorithms utilize ultrasound, chest radiograph, and computed tomography with intravenous contrast to accurately diagnose and effectively treat patients with acute thoracic trauma. This review focuses on the etiologies, signs and symptoms, imaging, and management of several life-threatening thoracic injuries including tracheobronchial rupture, pulmonary parenchymal injury, hemothorax, pneumothorax, diaphragmatic rupture, and axial skeleton injury.

Imaging of Large Airways Disorders

OBJECTIVE

Recent technical advances, including the routine use of CT thin sections and techniques such as 2D minimum-intensity-projection and 3D volume images, have increased our ability to detect large airways diseases. Furthermore, dedicated CT protocols allow the evaluation of dynamic airway dysfunction.

CONCLUSION

With diseases of the large airways more commonly seen in daily practice, it is important that radiologists be familiar with the appearances, differential diagnosis, and clinical implications of these entities.

CT imaging of blunt chest trauma

BACKGROUND: Thoracic injury overall is the third most common cause of trauma following injury to the head and extremities. Thoracic trauma has a high morbidity and mortality, accounting for approximately 25% of trauma-related deaths, second only to head trauma. More than 70% of cases of blunt thoracic trauma are due to motor vehicle collisions, with the remainder caused by falls or blows from blunt objects. METHODS: The mechanisms of injury, spectrum of abnormalities and radiological findings encountered in blunt thoracic trauma are categorised into injuries of the pleural space (pneumothorax, hemothorax), the lungs (pulmonary contusion, laceration and herniation), the airways (tracheobronchial lacerations, Macklin effect), the oesophagus, the heart, the aorta, the diaphragm and the chest wall (rib, scapular, sternal fractures and sternoclavicular dislocations). The possible coexistence of multiple types of injury in a single patient is stressed, and therefore systematic exclusion after thorough investigation of all types of injury is warranted. RESULTS: The superiority of CT over chest radiography in diagnosing chest trauma is well documented. Moreover, with the advent of MDCT the imaging time for trauma patients has been significantly reduced to several seconds, allowing more time for appropriate post-diagnosis care. CONCLUSION: High-quality multiplanar and volumetric reformatted CT images greatly improve the detection of injuries and enhance the understanding of mechanisms of trauma-related abnormalities.

Chest computed tomography with multiplanar reformatted images for diagnosing traumatic bronchial rupture: a case report

INTRODUCTION

Unnoticed bronchial injury during the early stage of resuscitation of multiple trauma is not rare and increases mortality and morbidity.

METHODS

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the airways using a workstation connected to a multidetector chest computed tomography (CT) scanner may change the diagnostic strategy in patients with blunt chest trauma with clinical signs evocative of bronchial rupture.

RESULTS

In this case report of a young motor biker, a complete disruption of the intermediary trunk was first misdiagnosed using standard chest helical CT and bronchoscopy. Postprocessing procedures including three-dimensional extraction of the tracheobronchial tree were determinants for establishing the diagnosis, and emergent surgical repair was successfully performed. Follow-up using CT with three-dimensional reconstructions evidenced a bronchial stenosis located at the site of the rupture.

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrates the potential interest of performing three-dimensional reconstructions by extraction of the tracheal-bronchial tree in patients with severe blunt chest trauma suspected of bronchial rupture.

Imaging of chest trauma: radiological patterns of injury and diagnostic algorithms

In patients after chest trauma, imaging plays a key role for both, the primary diagnostic work-up, and the secondary assessment of potential treatment. Despite its well-known limitations, the anteroposterior chest radiograph remains the starting point of the imaging work-up. Adjunctive imaging with computed tomography, that recently is increasingly often performed on multidetector computed tomography units, adds essential information not readily available on the conventional radiograph. This allows better definition of trauma-associated thoracic injuries not only in acute traumatic aortic injury, but also in pulmonary, tracheobronchial, cardiac, diaphragmal, and thoracic skeletal injuries. This article reviews common radiographic findings in patients after chest trauma, shows typical imaging features resulting from thoracic injury, presents imaging algorithms, and recalls to the reader less common but clinically relevant entities encountered in patients after thoracic trauma.

Multislice CT in thoracic trauma

The introduction of CT imaging in the 1970s revolutionized all aspects of medical care, perhaps nowhere more so than in the evaluation of acutely injured patients. Just as single-slice helical scanning was a great advance over conventional CT, the capabilities of MSCT are proving to be dramatically superior to single-slice methods. Improved contrast bolus imaging, thinner slices, and isotropic voxels should enable the trauma radiologist to identify both major organ system disruption and subtle injuries more promptly. Multiplanar and three-dimensional reconstructions, a forte of MSCT, facilitate rapid communication of disease states with surgeons and others involved in the care of injured patients. In many centers, whole-body CT is beginning to supplant plain films of the chest and spine in the evaluation of severe trauma victims; the cost-effectiveness of such methods is still under evaluation.