PNEUMOTHORAX DUE TO BLUNT CHEST TRAUMA IN A SOCCER MATCH: A CASE REPORT
Oğuz YÜKSEL1, Cengizhan ÖZGÜRBÜZ2
1Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Spor Hekimliği Anabilim Dalı, İnciraltı, İzmir
2Ege Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Spor Hekimliği Anabilim Dalı, Bornova, İzmir
Keywords: Traumatic pneumothorax, blunt trauma, soccer, CT scan, exercise
Abstract
Pneumothorax is defined as the presence of air within the pleural cavity, and is a condition that may be life threatening. Although blunt chest trauma is the primary cause of pneumothorax, sports-related blunt chest trauma causing pneumothorax is infrequent, especially in soccer. A 20 years old soccer player experiencing severe pain following blunt chest trauma during the game was transferred to the hospital by ambulance. His chest X-ray was normal. He did not incur any pain the next morning. A computerized tomography (CT) scan of the chest revealed 15% hemothorax. He was conservatively treated and played a league game three weeks later. Possibility of pneumothorax should be kept in mind in athletes with chest trauma even with mild or atypical symptoms. A CT scan can be helpful for differential diagnosis.
