7 years-delayed presentation of a traumatic diaphragmatic rupture: laparoscopic repair

Traumatic diaphragmatic rupture is a possible life-threatening condition that occurs up to 5% of major thoraco-abdominal traumas. This kind of injury is sometimes diagnosed at the time of the initial trauma referral due to its acute presentation, but sometimes it can escape detection, especially if occurring as an isolated injury. Symptoms such as dyspnea, non-cardiac chest pain, and vasovagal symptoms may start the workup, but PDHs are sometimes discovered incidentally in apparent complete wellness. We here report the case of a massive PDH discovered incidentally during examination for an apparently not related condition.