Tracheobronchial disruption: delayed diagnosis.

Traumatic rupture of the tracheobronchial tree is an increasingly occurring complication of blunt chest trauma. Early detection and surgical repair are important for definitive and successful reconstruction. Bronchoscopy is the most reliable diagnostic procedure. Use of a rigid bronchoscope is difficult and traumatic to the patient, and the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope, with its greater technical simplicity, is more easily applied. We report the case of a patient who suffered bronchial stenosis and total atelectasis before discovery of a fracture was made.