Pulmonary Hernia Following Blunt Chest Trauma

Abstract : Defined as a protrusion of the lung parenchyma through the chest wall, traumatic lung hernias constitute a rarely described condition occurring more from penetrating rather than blunt trauma. We report the case of a 17-year-old patient with no prior medical history who was admitted to the emergency department following a motorcycle accident with a protruding thoracic mass. Clinical examination found a soft, reducible bulge on the left anterior 4th intercostal space. A CT scan of the chest demonstrated rib fractures with no lung or muscle laceration. Surgical correction of the defect allowed total disappearance of the bulge, as well as significant pain management, and postoperative recovery was satisfactory. Post-traumatic intercostal lung herniation is a poorly described, challenging entity for which minimally invasive surgical correction of the chest wall defect and reduction of the hernia should be considered whenever feasible.