TP HCMMr. Van, 62 years old, fell down the stairs from a height of 3 m, fractured his rib cage, pleural effusion, and high risk of infection.
After the accident, Mr. Van had difficulty breathing and was treated at Kien Giang Provincial Hospital. Mr. Van’s pleural fluid increased significantly, causing compression, partially collapsing the lung, and pleural effusion.
The doctor placed a pleural drain. This is a procedure to place a tube through the chest wall into the pleural cavity to drain air, fluid, blood or pleural pus. After 5 days, his lungs were still collapsed and not expanding, so he was transferred to Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for treatment.
On May 2, Dr. Tran Quoc Hoai, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Cardiovascular Center, said that Mr. Van broke 7 ribs, a segment of the chest was displaced, creating a collection of fluid that was connected to the cavity. pleura. Patient with hemothorax.
CT image shows broken ribs, displaced inwards. Image: Tam Anh Hospital
The doctor makes a long incision in the chest, accessing the pleural cavity to remove adhesions to the lungs and remove fluid and blood clots. Next, the team rearranged the displaced broken ribs and screwed those bones to fix them. The surgery ended after two hours.
MSc.BSc.CKI Le Chi Hieu, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Cardiovascular Center, said that Mr. Van had had coronary artery bypass surgery, so the chest cavity was inflamed and sticky, making operations more difficult. The team separates the two layers of the pleura to easily clean the inside.
Three days after surgery, he had no pain, lived as normal, his lungs expanded well, no fluid or blood clots, and no infection. He was discharged after 5 days.
Surgeons splint the ribs and clean the patient’s pleural cavity. Image: Tam Anh Hospital
Fractures in chest trauma are very common, especially after traffic accidents, falls, daily life or work accidents. The rate of rib fractures is about 10% among chest trauma cases, according to Dr. Hoai. Besides broken ribs, chest injuries also cause damage to the collarbone or shoulder blade, the upper part of the abdomen, the lungs, blood vessels, heart, muscles, soft tissues, and sternum.
Many chest injuries can cause death immediately or within a few hours, depending on the extent to which vital organs such as the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels are affected. To reduce the risk of death and reduce sequelae, patients with chest injuries need to closely monitor for signs of abnormalities.
After a chest injury, the patient feels increasing pain or has severe difficulty breathing and needs to go to the hospital immediately. Mild injuries often show symptoms of pain when moving the shoulder, arm or body, and the pain increases when breathing deeply, coughing or sneezing. At this time, the doctor will prescribe medication that can be treated at home. Patients need to go to the hospital when the pain level does not decrease after a few days or other unusual symptoms appear.