Delayed cardiac tamponade after blunt chest trauma: case report

Abstract

A case of cardiac tamponade without evidence of hemopericardium within 2 weeks after blunt chest trauma is reported. The cause was a pericardial effusion that may have resulted from the post-cardiac injury syndrome. Pericardiotomy drained 600 mL of straw-colored clear fluid. A high index of suspicion for cardiac tamponade must be maintained in such patients for weeks after injury.