Battipaglia, 18-year-old athlete saved after serious abdominal trauma

An exceptional surgical procedure was performed at the “Santa Maria della Speranza” hospital in Battipaglia on an 18-year-old athlete who had suffered a very serious thoraco-abdominal trauma.

The boy had arrived at the hospital complaining of severe chest pain and serious breathing difficulties, following a sports injury suffered the previous day.

The tests performed revealed a traumatic rupture of the diaphragm, with herniation of the stomach, spleen and transverse colon into the thorax, and consequent total collapse of the left lung.

The young man was immediately taken to the operating room and underwent a very delicate surgical operation, to return all the herniated organs in the thorax to the abdomen and repair the diaphragmatic lesion, allowing the collapsed lung to re-expand and resume normal function.

The operation, performed by the team led by Dr. Francesco La Rocca, director of the Complex Operating Unit of General and Emergency Surgery of the hospital, was a complete success. The boy was then transferred to the intensive care unit to undergo controlled assisted respiration.

The checks carried out in the following days showed a progressive improvement in the pulmonary picture. The young man began to breathe spontaneously again and is currently hospitalized in the Complex Operating Unit of General Surgery.

His current general conditions are more than satisfactory, and he will be able to be discharged in the next few days. The perfect synergy between the many professionals involved was crucial to the success of the operation: the team of Dr. Francesco La Rocca, the resuscitation team led by Dr. Fernando Chiumiento, the team of radiologists coordinated by Dr. Fiorentino Mondillo, the nursing teams coordinated by Nina Martinangelo and Dr. Sergio Forlenza.