Late Onset Traumatic Diaphragmatic Herniation Leading to Intestinal Obstruction and Pancreatitis: Two Separate Cases

Although diaphragmatic injuries caused by blunt or penetrating trauma are rare entities, they are the most commonly misdiagnosed injuries in trauma patients and occur in approximately 3-7% of all abdominal or thoracic traumas. Acute pancreatitis secondary to late presenting diaphragmatic hernia is very rare. Here we present two separate cases: one with acute bowel obstruction and the other with acute pancreatitis secondary to late onset traumatic diaphragmatic hernia (three and twenty-eight years after chest trauma, resp.).