Emergency room thoracotomy for acute traumatic cardiac tamponade caused by a blunt cardiac injury: A case report

Abstract Introduction Traumatic blunt cardiac injuries have a high mortality rate, and prompt diagnosis and treatment can be lifesaving in cardiac tamponade. Presentation of case A 62-year-old man was transferred to the emergency department after a motor vehicle accident. He was hemodynamically unstable. A focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) showed pericardial fluid with right ventricular collapse consistent with cardiac tamponade in the subxiphoid view. He collapsed despite a subxiphoid pericardiotomy. Owing to the ongoing hemodynamic instability, we performed a left anterolateral thoracotomy. Direct incision of the pericardium showed blood and clots within the pericardial space, indicating hemopericardium. The heart stroke and hemodynamic status recovered on removing the clot. Discussion Although the physical findings of cardiac tamponade are not always apparent in life-threatening acute cardiac tamponade after blunt trauma, FAST is a reliable tool for diagnosing and following cardiac tamponade. A median sternotomy is a standard approach for evaluating cardiac injury in hemodynamically stable patients with or without cardiopulmonary bypass. However, a left anterior thoracotomy was the fastest, simplest life-saving procedure considering the need for open-chest cardiac massage given our patient’s life-threatening condition. Conclusion A prompt diagnosis using FAST and treatment can be lifesaving in traumatic acute cardiac tamponade. A pericardiotomy via a thoracotomy is mandatory for lifesaving cardiac decompression in acute traumatic cardiac tamponade in cases of ineffective drainage due to clot formation within the pericardial space.