Introduction
Tracheobronchial injury (TBI) is defined as an injury localized between the cricoid cartilage and right/left mainstem bronchus. TBI commonly results from iatrogenic or traumatic injury. Iatrogenic TBI is commonly associated with longitudinal lacerations located in the cervical trachea after a difficult intubation or tracheostomy. Conversely, TBI resulting from trauma may occur from penetrating or blunt injuries. Penetrating injuries are often due to gunshot or stabbing wounds and are commonly located at the cervical trachea. Instead, blunt trauma often occurs following a motor vehicle accident with an incidence as low as 0.4%-1.5%. (1)
While management of iatrogenic TBI has been described in the literature, there is scant information regarding traumatic TBI specifically following blunt trauma. The objective of this article is to discuss a case report of a patient who suffered a large traumatic TBI following a motor vehicle accident and the decision to undertake conservative management rather than surgical.