Islam S, Shah J and Narayn Singh V
Aim: A tension haemothorax is an uncommon injury after penetrating chest trauma.
Introduction: Anterior thoracic penetrating injuries may result in life-threatening complications. One of these is massive tension haemothorax with pericardial tamponade as a result of stab wounds to the internal mammary artery.
Presentation of a Case: We present a case in which a 55 year old man sustained multiple thoracic stab wounds. He had emergency right antero-lateral thoracotomy and laparotomy. A massive haemothorax secondary to complete disruption of right internal mammary artery and a laceration to middle lobe of right lung was noticed.
Conclusion: Penetrating thoracic injury with isolated internal mammary injury is a very rare cause of massive haemothorax and associated with high mortality. Emergent thoracotomy can be life-saving for these patients.
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