Repair of diaphragmatic rupture by laparoscopic implantation of a polytetrafluoroethylene patch.

Diaphragmatic hernias after blunt traumatic damage are serious complications, and diagnosis often might be delayed. In most cases, early symptoms are missed, but in the further posttraumatic period, patients experience recurrence of pulmonary dysfunction or intestinal symptoms such as obstruction, nausea, and pain. Most of these defects are diagnosed by laparotomy performed to investigate other major abdominal lesions. These diaphragmatic ruptures are managed by suturing using a thoracic or abdominal approach. An original diaphragmatic repair technique using a patch is presented. A 40-year-old woman was admitted to our clinic because of chronic abdominal pain. Chest x-ray and computed tomography scan showed a migration of the large intestine into the left hemithorax. A large diaphragmatic hernia was diagnosed and repaired laparoscopically using a patch. In the reported patient, laparoscopic suture of a diaphragmatic hernia using a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (GORETEX) patch proved to be safe, successful, elegant, and uneventful.