Immediate chest wall stabilization following thoracotomy for hemorrhage in severe blunt thoracic trauma

On presentation, the patient was hypotensive with a systolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg. No other traumatic injuries were identified and patient continued to require blood transfusions to maintain blood pressure and a subsequent chest X-ray demonstrated a persistent large volume right hemothorax. Furthermore, there was concern for ongoing hemorrhage given a postplacement chest X-ray that revealed an increased size of the right hemothorax (figure 1).