TRAUMATIC-DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA -REPORT OF FIVE CASES-

Five patients with traumatic-diaphragmatic hernia are reported. Their traumatic-diaphragmatic hernias were caused by blunt injury in four patients and by stab injury in one. Two patients were operated on through a thoracic approach and the remaining three through an abdominal approach. Diaphragmatic rupture was observed at the left side in all patients. The stomach, major omentum, spleen, transverse colon or small intestine was prolapsed into the left thoracic cavity without a hernial sac. Prolapsed organs were easily reduced into the abdominal cavity without any damage. The ruptured diaphragm was directly closed in all patients using a non-absorbable suture without any prosthesis. Organ impairment such as brain injury and pelvic or rib fracture was simultaneously encountered.