Delayed life-threatening hemothorax without rib fractures after blunt chest trauma

Delayed hemothorax in blunt chest trauma is described as a late presentation of hemothorax after a normal chest X-ray on admission. To detect this clinical entity a repeat chest X-ray is advised after six hours, especially when the first radiograph reveals rib or thoracic vertebral fractures or any significant injury to the thoracic viscera. However, this repeats chest X-ray examination is often not done in patients in whom a significant thoracic trauma has been excluded in the primary and secondary survey. Here, we discuss a case of massive delayed hemothorax after 16 hours of the blunt chest trauma despite a near normal admission chest X-ray and absence of significant chest trauma in the primary and secondary surveys.