Surgeon-performed ultrasound in the diagnosis and management of pericardial tamponade in a 20-month-old blunt injured toddler.

The contents of the thorax, although less frequently injured in children than in adults, remain a source of substantial potential morbidity and mortality in traumatized children. Disparate problems such as rib fractures, lung injury, hemothorax, pneumothorax, mediastinal injuries and others may present in isolation or in combination with one another. Knowledge of the manner in which pediatric anatomy, physiology and injury patterns change with age may expedite evaluating pediatric chest after trauma. We present the case of a 20-month-old toddler with blunt myocardial injury and pericardial tamponade diagnosed with surgeon-performed Focused Abdominal Sonography for Trauma (FAST).