Fractured aorta--a case report.

Abstract

A 66-year-old, restrained driver involved in a high-speed motor vehicle crash sustained a transmural infrarenal fracture of a circumferentially calcified aorta. Blunt abdominal aortic injury is exceedingly rare, about twenty times less common than its thoracic counterpart, and the current case report is therefore unusual. A high index of suspicion in combination with a suggestive clinical history or examination should prompt diagnostic intervention, as both morbidity and mortality are high.