A Case of Thyroid Injury Caused by Blunt Neck Trauma

The larynx, thyroid gland and cervical trachea are located in the anterior cervix. Thus isolated thyroid injury is rarely reported. We report a 75-year-old woman who was brought to our emergency room (ER) with dyspnea and cervical swelling after a fall. Fiberscopic examination identified partial occlusion of the trachea. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck showed a crushed left thyroid gland and massive hematoma extending from the paratracheal region to mediastinum. Therefore emergency intubation from her nose was performed using a flexible endoscope. The patient underwent tracheotomy. The hematoma disappeared on the 21st hospital day, and she recovered without complications. The patient was doing well at the twenty-month follow-up.