Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for large anterior mediastinal hematoma.

Abstract

Anterior mediastinal bleeding caused by blunt chest injury is dangerous. Patients with rupture of large cardiac vessels often die of massive blood loss before getting to a hospital. The internal thoracic artery and vein, intercostal vessels or fracture ends caused bleeding that resulted in a mediastinal hematoma (1,2). Due to the nature of blunt chest injuries, the variation of anterior mediastinal hematoma cases is wide, and the specific source of bleeding is not always clear. The most commonly utilized methods of treatment are thoracotomy and hemostasis, and vascular interventional embolism (3). Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is rarely reported as being used in the treatment of acute traumatic anterior mediastinal hematoma. This paper reports a case of traumatic giant anterior mediastinal hematoma treated by thoracoscopy.