Intraperitoneal air in the diagnosis of blunt diaphragmatic rupture.

We present here a case of blunt traumatic right hemidiaphragmatic rupture with hepatic hernia that was diagnosed preoperatively on the basis of clinical, chest radiogram, and computed tomography scan suspicions. We proposed that the presence of free intraperitoneal air without guarding or peritoneal signs should be considered to be a clinical indication of hemidiaphragmatic rupture with pneumothorax.