Bilateral Chylothorax After Severe Vomiting in a Child

Abstract

In the etiology of chylothorax, traumas and malignancies are the first two leading causes. Today in pediatric patients, the most common cause of chylothorax includes the complications secondary to cardiothoracic operations. Bilateral chylothorax is rarely observed after severe vomiting leading to increase in intrathoracic pressure. In idiopathic chylothorax, bilateral localization is dominant. A 9-year-old girl who presented to our emergency department with the complaints of dyspnea and back pain following severe vomiting received a diagnosis of bilateral chylothorax. The patient was treated with the insertion of a bilateral chest tube, and pleurodesis was performed in left hemithorax. Examination did not reveal a pathology to this condition, except the vomiting observed 2 days previously after the meal.