Thoracodorsal Artery Injury After Tube Thoracostomy: A Case Report

Jun Kamei; Akira Kuriyama; Tsuyoshi Ohno; Shigeru Ohtsuru

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2023.05.016

Thoracodorsal Artery Injury After Tube Thoracostomy: A Case Report

J Emerg Med. 2023 Oct;65(4):e303-e306. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2023.05.016. Epub 2023 Jun 7.

Authors

Jun Kamei¹, Akira Kuriyama¹, Tsuyoshi Ohno², Shigeru Ohtsuru¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
² Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.

PMID: 37690956
DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2023.05.016

Abstract

Background: Tube thoracostomy is rarely associated with serious bleeding complications. Although intercostal artery injury is a well-known bleeding complication, other vascular injuries in the chest wall have only rarely been reported.

Case report: A 58-year-old man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis presented to the emergency department with dyspnea. He was diagnosed by chest computed tomography with spontaneous hemopneumothorax, for which he underwent tube thoracostomy. However, bleeding in the chest wall continued, which required chest tube removal and blood transfusion. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography and angiography revealed contrast extravasation from the thoracodorsal artery, which confirmed a diagnosis of thoracodorsal artery injury. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Because the thoracodorsal artery gives branches to the serratus anterior muscles that are located in the "triangle of safety," chest tube placement in this area is not always safe; it can still cause major bleeding complications from vessels such as the thoracodorsal artery. Hence, close monitoring for bleeding is needed after tube thoracostomy.

Keywords: bleeding complication; thoracodorsal artery injury; triangle of safety; tube thoracostomy.