Traumatic bronchial rupture: an unusual cause of tension pneumothorax

Bronchial rupture is a rare and serious complication of blunt chest trauma, which can be easily overlooked on initial evaluation in the emergency room (ER) as the focus of the attending physician is diverted to more obvious external injuries which may not be of much significance. We present one such patient referred to us as a case of unresolved right-sided pneumothorax 2 days after intercostal drainage (ICD) tube placement.