Post-traumatic pleural effusion: Don't forget the chylothorax!

In this case we describe a 58-year-old male with bilateral pleural effusion after a blunt trauma to the back. A pleural puncture revealed a chylothorax. An additional computed tomography scan showed a vertebral fracture at level D8 with rupture of the nearby thoracic duct. Our patient could be treated with a conservative approach. This case highlights the importance of ruling out a chylothorax in any post-traumatic pleural effusion. Despite the low prevalence, we consider it a don't-miss diagnosis given the specific treatment requirements. Most of the time, a post-traumatic pleural effusion is linked by physicians to a hemothorax. A post-traumatic chylothorax is usually not considered, largely because of the uncommon nature of this condition. In this article, we present a successful conservative treatment of a patient with post-traumatic chylothorax after falling down the stairs.image