Damage control surgery for unstable thoracic wall injury

Yoshihide Shimojo; Shunsuke Kuramoto; Tomohiro Muronoi; Kazuyuki Oka; Akihiko Kidani; Eiji Hira; Hiroaki Watanabe

doi:10.1016/j.tcr.2019.100188

Damage control surgery for unstable thoracic wall injury

Trauma Case Rep. 2019 Apr 6:21:100188. doi: 10.1016/j.tcr.2019.100188. eCollection 2019 Jun.

Authors

Yoshihide Shimojo^{1

2}, Shunsuke Kuramoto^{1

2}, Tomohiro Muronoi^{1

2}, Kazuyuki Oka^{1

2}, Akihiko Kidani^{1

2}, Eiji Hira^{1

2}, Hiroaki Watanabe^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shimane Advanced Trauma Center, Shimane University Hospital, Japan.
² Department of Acute Care Surgery, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.

Abstract

Damage control surgery (DCS) consists of three steps: an abbreviated initial operation, resuscitation in the ICU, and a planned reoperation. Although DCS for lung and heart injury have been established, there is no concept of DCS for the chest wall. We experienced a successful case, in which a DCS of chest wall lifting procedure and internal pneumatic stabilization were performed on the flail chest accompanied by a remarkable destruction of chest wall. As a result, the patient's abnormal breathing improved. Surgical fixations using KANI plate were performed at a later date. We suggest that the chest wall lifting procedure may be suitable as a DCS for thoracic cage destruction from severe chest wall injury.

Keywords: Damage control surgery; Rib fracture; Surgical stabilization; Thoracic wall destruction.

Publication types

Case Reports