Traumatic Diaphragmatic Injuries (Report of 22 Cases)

외상성 횡경막 손상 -22례 보고-

22 Cases of traumatic diaphragmatic injuries treated at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Chon-Buk National University Hospital from Jan. 1979 to Oct. 1988 were reviewed in this study. Of the 22 cases, 18 were male and 3 were female, a ratio of 4.5:1. This ratio revealed high incidence in male patient. The age distribution ranged from 2 to 60 years and mean age was 31 years. The modes of injury were as follows: 11 stab wound, 5 traffic accident, 2 fall down, 2 fighting injury, 1 compression wound by sand bag, and 1 slip down injury. Useful diagnostic tools were chest X-ray with or without radiopaque dye swallowing, which was the most commonly diagnostic, UGI series, and thoracoscope. Operations were performed in 22 cases, and 18 cases were through thoracotomy. The herniated organs through the ruptured diaphragm were stomach, omentum, liver, spleen, colon, and small bowel. There were associated injuries, and the most commonly associated was rib fracture. There was no postoperative death.