What clinical signs are seen with diaphragmatic hernias?
For hernias induced by trauma, the patient is usually in shock, showing tachypnea, tachycardia and pale mucous membranes. Cardiac arrhythmias are common. Other signs depend on which organs have herniated. For instance, you may hear GI sounds in the chest on auscultation. Decreased lung sounds are also common, often unilaterally. • What diagnostic technique is most commonly used to identify diaphragmatic hernias? A radiograph often provides a definitive diagnosis. Look for loss of the diaphragmatic line or cardiac silhouette, dorsal or lateral displacement of the lung fields, or gas-filled structures in the chest. • What do you see on the radiograph? There is loss of the diaphragmatic line and cardiac silhouette. There is a lot of pleural fluid present. The lungs appear to be partially atelectic (rounded, decreased size of aerated lung lobes, etc.). Gas densities of the GI tract appear to be in the chest cavity. • When should you perform surgery, and in what instance is a diaphragmatic
