Clinical Medicine Insights: Trauma and Intensive Medicine

An 18-year-old youth soccer forward received a direct hit from a kicked soccer ball on the anterior right chest when the goal keeper kicked the ball from a distance of 1 meter. Immediately following the hit, the subject experienced dypnea, chest pain and had a cough, with several milliliters of hemoptysis. His symptoms subsided after 20 minutes of rest. However, he still felt mild discomfort and was taken to our department for evaluation. On examination, all vital signs were normal. A computed tomography scan of the chest was obtained, and revealed a small area of opacification in the right lung field suggesting a pulmonary contusion or traumatic lung edema. Ten days after the initial injury, he was cleared for full participation. We herein reported the first case of a lung lesion induced by a soccer ball. Conservative treatment resulted in a favorable outcome.