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Case Reports
. 2025 Apr 14:57:101168.
doi: 10.1016/j.tcr.2025.101168. eCollection 2025 May.

Delayed chest wall abscess after blunt trauma chest leading to multi-organ failure: A case report

Binayak Deb  1 , V M Balasubramani  1 , Ram Varaham  1 , Ramesh Vaidyanathan  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Delayed chest wall abscess after blunt trauma chest leading to multi-organ failure: A case report

Binayak Deb et al. Trauma Case Rep. .

Abstract

Blunt Trauma Chest (BTC) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in trauma patients. Although rib fractures, haemothorax, pneumothorax and lung contusions are often found in tandem in BTC, delayed necrotising soft tissue infection (NSTI) without any penetrating injuries or overt puncture wounds have rarely been reported. We report a 61-year-old patient with uncontrolled diabetes, admitted after a motor vehicle collision with head, chest and lower limb injuries and discharged after 9 days of stay in the hospital. He returned with NSTI of the chest wall around a week later with a fulminant clinical course ultimately leading to septic shock, multi-organ dysfunction and demise of the patient.

Keywords: Blunt trauma chest; Delayed necrotising soft tissue infection; Septic shock.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
First CT showing an un-displaced rib fracture.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Ultrasound done initially showed minimal collection beneath the pectoralis muscle.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
CT at re-admission showed displaced rib fracture with air pockets and subcutaneous oedema.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Necrotic muscles and soft tissues seen during debridement.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Bilateral diffuse infiltrates on chest X-ray suggesting an ARDS picture.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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