[Penetrating chest trauma in which thoracoscopy was helpful; report of a case].

A 32-year-old builder suffered from a chest trauma in a construction area. A ratchet penetrated his right chest wall posterolaterally, and he was transferred to our hospital. A chest X-ray and a computed tomography (CT) revealed that the tip of the instrument remained in the thoracic cavity and there were no other obvious damages including pneumothorax, hemothorax, and liver damage. We thought the simple removal of the instrument from his body was dangerous so he was transferred to the operating room and his chest was opened under general anesthesia. However, it was difficult to confirm the inside of penetrating point from the thoracotomy wound; therefore we used a thoracoscope. The thoracoscopy disclosed a penetration in the lung and a contusion on the diaphragm. The application of thoracoscopy in the operation of thoracic trauma is very promising in exploration of the thoracic cavity, especially in the area which is out of vision from the open thoracotomy.