Pulmonary laceration

Pulmonary laceration
Coronal CT scan showing lucencies (pale areas in radiography) in the lung caused by pulmonary lacerations on the left of the image (black arrows)
SpecialtyEmergency medicine Edit this on Wikidata

A pulmonary laceration is a chest injury in which lung tissue is torn or cut.[1] An injury that is potentially more serious than pulmonary contusion, pulmonary laceration involves disruption of the architecture of the lung,[2] while pulmonary contusion does not.[3] Pulmonary laceration is commonly caused by penetrating trauma but may also result from forces involved in blunt trauma such as shear stress. A cavity filled with blood, air, or both can form.[2] The injury is diagnosed when collections of air or fluid are found on a CT scan of the chest. Surgery may be required to stitch the laceration, to drain blood, or even to remove injured parts of the lung. The injury commonly heals quickly with few problems if it is given proper treatment; however it may be associated with scarring of the lung or other complications.

  1. ^ Sattler S, Maier RV (2002). "Pulmonary contusion". In Karmy-Jones R, Nathens A, Stern EJ (eds.). Thoracic Trauma and Critical Care. Berlin: Springer. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-1-4020-7215-4. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
  2. ^ a b Collins J, Stern EJ (2007). Chest Radiology: The Essentials. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-7817-6314-1. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wicky00 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).