School ager status post left chest tube placement with bloody output from the chest tube and a decreased hematocrit after chest tube placement

Chest
CT of chest tube puncturing an intercostal blood vessel causing active bleeding
Arterial (above) and venous (below) phase axial CT with contrast of the chest shows a large hematoma inside the ribs at the chest tube insertion site. There is also a blush of contrast near the chest tube that increases on delayed imaging representing active bleeding.

The diagnosis was a chest tube malfunction in the form of a chest tube puncturing an intercostal blood vessel causing active bleeding.

Published