Please advise re friends son coughing up blood(lots)

[stayathomegardener]

Hi my friends son is 13,healthy and super sporty.About 6 weeks ago he took a very hard tackle in football that required an x-ray to check for broken ribs,this was fine however since then he has been complaining on and off of chest pain and breathlessness,this culminated this morning in him coughing up a sink full of fresh blood.

His Mum took him to A and E where they felt it was not pneumonia and x-rayed again to check for cracked ribs,which were fine but they did see a grey 50p sized shadow between his ribs at the position where he is complaining of pain.He has been sent home to rest after they admitted they had not seen something like this before.

My poor friend is at a loss as what to think,she has a meeting with her GP in the morning to discuss a plan.(although the GP baffled too)

My feelings would be to ask for blood tests for infection,white blood count and a referral to someone although I'm not sure who.So any directions would be really helpful for her-I think she is still a bit shocked

Poor boy thinks he has cancer

It's probably just a contusion (bruise) on the lung from the original injury - coughing up blood is a classic sign. A contusion of this size needs no treatment though I'm sure the GP will refer him to a paediatrician or respiratory specialist to be checked over.

VERY IMPORTANT before anyone Googles pulmonary contusion, please bear in mind that 99% of information on the web will be about major contusions that occur after car crashes and not the sort of small injury your friend's DS has. So don't panic - the info won't apply to him.

If she is worried I would bring him back to hospital and get some answers, ffs how can they just send him home without knowing what it is. Poor lad.

Ok will not google-dragon butter I still remember!

So will have to quiz you-if it is a bruise the blood would be dark would it not? and not fresh

Respiratory specialist is what he needs-knew mumsnet or more specifically turps would know

I know fanny,he is just so scared

fanny She will not get answers in A&E - the DS will just end up seeing a junior doctor who won't be able to tell her anything more than she already knows (I was an A&E doctor for 8 years ). Contrary to popular belief, A&E is not a gateway to the rest of the hospital - A&E doctors cannot refer you to a specialist - the GP needs to do this.

Advise your friend to see their GP as planned and ask for urgent referral to see a respiratory specialist.
Coughing blood + breathless (in a fit kid) + something on XR warrants urgent investigation.

Much, much more likely to be related to the injury he took rather than anything more nasty. And does not sound like infection tbh.

stayathome in theory you are right about the colour of the blood. In practice, people do seem to bring up fresh-looking blood for weeks after any sort of injury to the lung, whether trauma or an infection. Don't ask me why, but it's certainly not unusual. Of course other diagnoses need to be ruled out too and I'm afraid cancer is one of them but it is much much much less likely than a lung injury or infection (infections often occur at the site of an injury).

As he is 13, the GP will probably send him to a paediatrician but the paediatrician will either have a specialist interest in respiratory medicine or will be able to involve a respiratory specialist if necessary.

thank you so much-turps in particular