Abstract: To seek out some proper diagnostic and therapeutic feature for improving the survival quality and avoiding missed diagnosis of traumatic tracheobronchial rupture. Methods: The traumatic condition, operation feature and operation results of 32 patients ranged 1455 years (mean 35.2 years old) were retrospectively analyzed. Most of the ruptures were caused by traffic accidents (22/31). Results: Endtoend anastomosis was performed immediately after diagnosis in 14 cases of bronchus being ruptured completely and 5 cases of trachea being ruptured, and conservation treatment in the other 13 cases of incomplete traumatic rupture. Only 2 patients were cured, the rest were treated by surgery, including 4 that had ever been cured through drainage but the bronchi were obstructed by granulation later. Three were left with stenosis after the first operation because of incomplete resection. One was cured by laser through bronchoscopy, the other two which showed no sensitive to laser were cured by resection. Conclusion: Tracheobronchoscopy is mandatory in assessing the definite diagnosis of tracheobronchial rupture. Early diagnosis and surgical repair are recommended. To remove granulation completely is essential for avoiding airway stenosis. Only very few cases whose lesion affect less than a third of the circumference and not involve the whole wall may be cured conservatively.

Key words: Trachea, Bronchi, Wounds and injuries, Treatment outcome