Open AccessTwenty-seven year old man presenting with a strangulated diaphragmatic hernia eight years after the initial injury
Author(s) -
R Morjaria,
Hashim Al-Gailani,
Sikander Afzal,
Sohail Sabir,
S.M. Salman
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr.09.2009.2288
Subject(s) - medicine , laparotomy , diaphragmatic hernia , vomiting , diaphragmatic breathing , surgery , abdominal distension , hernia , abdominal pain , traumatic diaphragmatic hernia , general surgery , alternative medicine , pathology
A 27-year-old man presented with a 5 day history of abdominal pain and distension, with associated constipation and vomiting. He had presented 8 years earlier following a traumatic injury to the left side of the chest, and no diaphragmatic injury was reported at that time. On this admission, a computed tomography scan showed herniation of the splenic flexure of the colon into the left hemithorax. Subsequently, he had an emergency laparotomy for resection, with formation of a loop ileostomy. The various imaging techniques all have advantages and disadvantages when diagnosing a traumatic diaphragmatic hernia. It is the clinician's role to maintain a high index of suspicion when a patient initially presents with trauma where a traumatic diaphragmatic hernia may be a possibility.