Tension Viscerothorax after Blunt Abdominal Trauma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Hiatal hernia as a rare cause of cardiac complications – case based review of the literature

“…Similar management was needed in a patient reported by Shoji et al [10]. However, according to the literature, some patients with gastrothorax complicated by cardiac arrest underwent solely laparotomy [13,14] or thoracotomy [9,11]. During the surgery, the anatomical position of the organs is restored and the hiatus hernia repaired [10].…”

“…Tension gastrothorax may lead to cardiopulmonary arrest [9,10] which ensues due to extrinsic compression of the heart by the strangulated hiatal herni, which occurred in the presented case. There are only few published case reports of tension gastrothorax complicated by cardiac arrest [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The majority were caused by trauma [9,[11][12][13][14], while by hiatal hernia in only two cases by [8,10].…”

Traumatic diaphragmatic hernia: delayed presentation with tension viscerothorax – lessons to learn

“…In its climax, a diaphragmatic hernia may present with tension viscerothorax, a grave condition that may end with cardiac arrest or bowel gangrene. 9,10 The clinical and radiological similarity of this condition to tension pneumothorax may create a diagnostic dilemma. 11 An imprudently inserted chest drain (rather than a nasogastric or orogastric tube) to deflate the intrathoracic stomach 2,9 ) will certainly add more complications, as spillage of the visceral contents into the thorax would be inevitable.…”

“…Although nasogastric or orogastric tube insertion, when successful, decompresses the dilated stomach and restores oxygen saturation, 2 its insertion may be challenging, with repeated attempts causing further deterioration or cardiac arrest at times. 9 This difficulty is caused by kinking of the stomach at the diaphragmatic defect. For this reason, the most experienced person in the treating team should attempt its insertion.…”

An Elderly Female with Dyspnea and Abdominal Pain

“…4 Failure to decompress the stomach, however, may lead to patient decompensation and cardiac arrest. 5 Definitive treatment is surgical repair. 2 Topics: Tension gastrothorax, GI, gastroenterology, cardiothoracic, radiograph, CXR, abdominal, dyspnea, shortness of breath.…”