We report the case of a 68-year-old male who sustained blunt chest trauma in a motor vehicle accident and presented with severe chest pain, dyspnea, pneumothorax, and multiple rib fractures. Imaging revealed a complete type I manubriosternal joint dislocation with an associated retrosternal hematoma. Urgent surgical intervention was planned; however, it was delayed for several hours because of inadequate fasting time. During this interval, the patient's anterior chest wall prominence subsided, and the patient's hemodynamic status improved. Follow-up chest computed tomography demonstrated complete spontaneous reduction of the manubriosternal joint dislocation. The patient was subsequently managed conservatively with analgesics, respiratory exercises, and close monitoring. He recovered without complications and remained stable on follow-up imaging 2 months later. This case highlights the rare occurrence of spontaneous reduction in traumatic manubriosternal joint dislocation.
Choi et al. (2026) studied this question.