Sequential management of traumatic breast hematoma with an anatomically evident flail segment: a case report
Abstract
Traumatic breast hematoma is an uncommon injury following blunt chest trauma, but associated chest wall injuries may complicate treatment planning. We report a woman in her 70s who sustained a frontal motor vehicle collision. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a massive right breast hematoma with active extravasation from a branch of the internal mammary artery and an anatomically evident flail segment involving the right third through fifth ribs. Emergency transcatheter arterial embolization achieved complete hemostasis. Because preoperative CT suggested that the hematoma temporarily stabilized the injured chest wall, hematoma evacuation, and possible surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF) were planned through a single inframammary incision. After hematoma evacuation, manual compression demonstrated abnormal mobility of the flail segment, confirming mechanical chest wall instability, and SSRF was completed through the same incision. Careful CT assessment and intraoperative evaluation may facilitate surgical planning in patients with combined breast and chest wall trauma.
Related
- Successful Conservative Management of a Traumatic Intramural Duodenal Hematoma Using a Double Elementary Diet Tube
- Early hematoma expansion provides incremental prognostic information beyond admission characteristics for 6-month functional outcome after adult traumatic brain injury
- Sequential Exposure to Acute, Intermediate, and Late Synovial Fluid Fracture Hematoma after Ankle Fracture Promotes Cartilage Damage in Vitro Partially Attenuated by Anti Inflammatory Agents
- Be aware of the tuft of hair: traumatic lumbar intradural hematoma following spinal anesthesia in a case of occult spinal dysraphism. Illustrative case
- Chronic Subdural Hematoma in the Super-Aged Society: From a Traumatic Curiosity to a Self-Perpetuating Vascular-Inflammatory Disease
BibTeX
@article{ooya2026sequential,
title = {{Sequential management of traumatic breast hematoma with an anatomically evident flail segment: a case report}},
author = {Yoshitaka Ooya and Shuji Takahira},
journal = {Journal of Surgical Case Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/jscr/rjag959},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jscr/rjag959},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sequential management of traumatic breast hematoma with an anatomically evident flail segment: a case report
AU - Yoshitaka Ooya
AU - Shuji Takahira
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - Journal of Surgical Case Reports
DO - 10.1093/jscr/rjag959
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/jscr/rjag959
AB - Traumatic breast hematoma is an uncommon injury following blunt chest trauma, but associated chest wall injuries may complicate treatment planning. We report a woman in her 70s who sustained a frontal motor vehicle collision. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a massive right breast hematoma with active extravasation from a branch of the internal mammary artery and an anatomically evident flail segment involving the right third through fifth ribs. Emergency transcatheter arterial embolization achieved complete hemostasis. Because preoperative CT suggested that the hematoma temporarily stabilized the injured chest wall, hematoma evacuation, and possible surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF) were planned through a single inframammary incision. After hematoma evacuation, manual compression demonstrated abnormal mobility of the flail segment, confirming mechanical chest wall instability, and SSRF was completed through the same incision. Careful CT assessment and intraoperative evaluation may facilitate surgical planning in patients with combined breast and chest wall trauma.
SN - 2042-8812
ER -