City Children’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City has successfully saved the life of a child who suffered a rare tracheal rupture and multiple broken ribs after falling while lying on their back.

On Friday, Dr. Nguyen Minh Tien, deputy director of the hospital, said the patient was a one-year-old boy, N.V.T.P., from the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

The child had been sitting and playing on the bed when he fell onto the floor in a supine position. 

Initially, the child cried but remained alert without vomiting or convulsions. 

On the following day, his family noticed swelling in his neck and chest and took him to a local hospital.

At the hospital, the child was lethargic, had purple lips, and was struggling to breathe with an oxygen saturation level of 85 percent. 

He was intubated, ventilated, and underwent a CT scan of the head, chest, and abdomen.

The scan revealed subcutaneous emphysema in the abdomen, hips, back, chest, and neck, along with bilateral upper lobe collapse and right lung middle lobe collapse, tracheal rupture, mediastinal emphysema, and fractures in the 8th, 9th, and 10th ribs.

The child was transferred to City Children’s Hospital, where he was consulted by specialists in respiratory, ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat), surgical resuscitation, and anesthesia. 

Doctors diagnosed tracheal rupture and rib fractures and decided to perform thoracotomy, tracheoplasty, and bronchoscopy.

Following surgery, the patient was moved to the surgical resuscitation department, where he received respiratory support, antibiotics, intravenous fluids, pain relievers, and acid-base electrolyte adjustments.

After nearly two weeks of treatment, the child’s condition improved, with the mediastinal and subcutaneous emphysema gradually subsiding. 

The ventilator and pleural drainage tube were removed, and the child began breathing independently.

Dr. Tien noted that this case of tracheal rupture in children is rare and emphasized the importance of supervision for children under three years old, as they are prone to accidents such as falls, burns, electric shocks, and poisoning from ingesting chemicals or foreign objects.

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