CASE REPORTS   

Chirurgia 2006 October;19(5):379-81

Copyright © 2006 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Thoracotomy for hemotorax in a woman with Parkinson. A case report

Colaut F. ¹, Toniolo L. ¹, Sernagiotto C. ², Pozzobon M. ³, Sartori C. A. ⁴

¹ Thoracic Surgery Unit City Hospital, Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy 2 General Surgery Unit City Hospital, Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy 3 General Surgery Unit City Hospital, Oderzo (TV), Italy 4 General Surgery Unit Chief Head of Surgical Department City Hospital, Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy

Hemotorax associated with rib fractures usually follows within hours after a trauma, but sometimes it takes longer to develop. We describe an unusual indication for fixing fractured ribs in an elderly woman with hemotorax affected by severe Parkinson disease. In this case bleeding from fractured ribs was surely caused or worsened by the abnormal chest motion during Parkinson crisis. In fact significant hemotorax requiring thoracotomy developped only on the fifth day after admittance. Thoracotomy was mainly performed to remove clots from pleural space. Nonetheless fixing ribs was mandatory to avoid further bleeding due to inevitable abnormal chest motion occurring in case of the next Parkinson crisis. To our knowledge this case represents an unusual indication to fix multiple fractured ribs even in absence of flail chest.