This often develops during or immediately following sternal re-approximation, however, it may not develop for hours or even days after chest closure [2–6]. TCS secondary to trauma is exceedingly rare. A review of the literature revealed only one prior report of TCS in the setting of trauma. In that report, Kaplan et al [1] presented a case of a patient with Selleck AZD3965 gunshot wounds through the heart and descending thoracic

aorta who developed TCS upon clamshell thoracotomy closure. In that case, closure of the chest precipitated an immediate elevation in airway pressure and rapid hemodynamic collapse. Given the extent of his injuries and the incision used, it would be reasonable to consider both of his pleural spaces and his mediastinum as one contiguous space, and that the development of TCS likely affected all thoracic structures equally. Intensive PLX-4720 nmr resuscitative and surgical measures are not uncommon in trauma surgery, yet the development of TCS is extremely rare. We believe that some of the

challenges associated with our patient may have contributed to the development of TCS. We have identified certain points that we believe merit increased discussion. 1) Prolonged pre-operative period: Our patient had an hour of pre-operative management during which he had a surgically amenable injury. In many Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase ways, our patient typifies the dilemma of the “”meta-stable”" trauma patient: that patient who responds to initial resuscitative measures yet for whom there BMS345541 mw remains significant concern that surgical intervention will be necessary. As described, this patient did not meet the criteria for immediate thoracotomy based on chest tube output (< 1500 mL of initial output), however this evaluation was confounded by the fact that the thoracostomy tube was clotted. Reliance upon the chest tube output is predicated upon fully expanding

the lung; this was not the case in our patient. A repeat chest x-ray would have prompted another chest tube (the course of action that in our case followed the chest CT); therefore, had a chest x-ray been done prior the chest CT (a time interval of 20 minutes) then the criteria for an immediate thoracic exploration would have been met and the patient would have been taken to the operating room approximately 30 minutes earlier. It is possible to infer that that delay may have contributed to the degree of ischemia-reperfusion injury associated with hemorrhage, though as noted, our patient had an appearance of stability and cessation of bleeding during this period of time resulting from temporary tamponade of the vascular injury within the mediastinal hematoma.