Thickening of the diaphragm: a new computed tomography sign of diaphragm injury.

Computed tomography examination is becoming a standard method of evaluating injury in blunt trauma. This report describes a previously unreported computed tomography sign of diaphragmatic injury. A retrospective review of imaging findings was performed on eight patients with surgically proven traumatic diaphragmatic rupture. Thickening of the diaphragm was present on computed tomography in six of eight patients with surgically proven diaphragm rupture. Two patients demonstrated previously established computed tomography signs of diaphragm rupture and two patients had no findings to suggest diaphragm injury. Diaphragm thickening is associated with diaphragm rupture and may be a useful diagnostic sign in the evaluation of patients with blunt trauma.