Diagnosis of traumatic diaphragmatic injury remains a clinical challenge - Brief report

Traumatic diaphragmatic injury (TDI) is a rare injury accounting for 10% to 15% of penetrating injuries and 1% to 8% of blunt injuries to the thoracoabdominal region. The most common mechanism of blunt trauma is motor vehicle collision while stabbings and gunshot wounds are the most frequent causes of penetrating TDIs. More than 62% of TDIs are initially undiagnosed. We identified 22 TDIs. Of these, diagnosis was delayed > 24 h in eight patients. The diagnosis was missed in seven patients, even though they were scanned with CT. Even today, primary CT after traumatic injury does not reliably reveal TDI.