Diaphragmatic injuries: why do we struggle to detect them?

Diaphragmatic injury is an uncommon traumatic condition. It can be easily missed due to a lack of awareness by both clinicians and radiologists. A high index of suspicion is required for the establishment of an early diagnosis and prevention of life-threatening complications. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is the modality of choice for the detection of diaphragmatic injury. In this review article, we illustrate the MDCT appearance of blunt and penetrating diaphragmatic injuries and emphasize the role of the emergency radiologist in detecting these entities.