Pulmonary contusion versus ARDS after trauma

What it is

Pulmonary contusion is patchy infiltrates occurring less than 1 day post-trauma, while ARDS is bilateral infiltrates occurring 1-2 days after trauma. What holds them apart is that contusion follows trauma to one side of the chest usually, whereas in ARDS everything is inflamed and leaking.

ARDS itself is a clinical syndrome of acute respiratory failure characterized by hypoxemia and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates that cannot be fully accounted for by heart failure or fluid overload.

Causes and risk

The causes of ARDS are sepsis, which is the most common cause, trauma, shock, pneumonia, aspiration and inhaled toxins.

How it presents

The clinical features of ARDS are acute dyspnea, tachypnea and tachycardia, cyanosis, and diffuse crackles.