Delayed pneumothorax following an isolated clavicle injury.

Isolated fractures of the clavicle have been rarely reported to be complicated by a pneumothorax. However, a delayed pneumothorax following this injury has not yet been reported in the literature. This case report describes a 19-year-old man who developed a left-sided apical pneumothorax from an ipsilateral fractured clavicle 5 days after his initial motorbike accident. Initial chest examination and radiographs showed no evidence of a pneumothorax in the accident and emergency department but a repeat radiograph in fracture clinic to assess the clavicle diagnosed an ipsilateral apical pneumothorax. He was then promptly treated with a chest drain which resolved the pneumothorax within 2 days. The clavicle fracture was treated non-operatively and after 6 weeks the patient had full function in his upper limb. Clinicians should therefore be aware of this rare complication from displaced clavicle fractures both immediately after the initial trauma and also on follow-up.