Tracheal/bronchial rupture

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Lungs

Torn tracheal mucosa

For trauma patients, other injuries will require simultaneous treatment. Injuries to the trachea often need to be repaired during surgery. Injuries to the smaller bronchi, especially if there is less than total disruption, can sometimes be treated without an operation. A collapsed lung is treated with a chest tube, connected to suction, that re-expands the lung.

For patients who have breathed a foreign body into the airways, rigid or fiberoptic bronchoscopy may be used to retrieve the object.

For patients with infection in the part of the lung surrounding the injury, antibiotics are used.

For trauma patients, the outlook depends on the extent of other injuries. Operations to repair these injuries often have good results. The outlook is good for patients with other causes of tracheal or bronchial disruption.

In the months or years after the injury, scarring at the site of the injury may lead to problems that require additional diagnostic tests or procedures.

Major complications after operations for this injury include infection, prolonged need for the use of a ventilator, and scarring.

Patients with major injuries to the chest, inhalation of foreign bodies, or signs and symptoms of chest infection should notify their physician.

Review Date: 11/13/2006
Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.