Spot the Pneumothorax.
acute medical emergencies management
chest drain
secondary pneumothorax
subcutaneous drain
surgical emphysema
Journal
Cureus
ISSN: 2168-8184
Titre abrégé: Cureus
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101596737
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Aug 2021
Aug 2021
Historique:
accepted:
14
08
2021
entrez:
22
9
2021
pubmed:
23
9
2021
medline:
23
9
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Subcutaneous emphysema (SE) and pneumomediastinum are commonly associated with critically ill patients with blunt or penetrating trauma, in particular lower rib fractures. It however rarely needs urgent intervention, and routine use of chest tube tracheostomy or mediastinal drains is not recommended as the patients do not go on to develop a respiratory compromise. Our case is novel as it describes a case of subcutaneous emphysema with acute upper airway compromise and respiratory distress requiring urgent bilateral wide bore subcutaneous drains and thoracic drain insertion. The patient required a prolonged recovery period. This case serves to illustrate the technical difficulty in establishing a cause of subcutaneous emphysema, the limitations of standard imaging in identifying a pneumothorax in subcutaneous emphysema, and the value of prompt insertion of bilateral subcutaneous wide bore drains to buy precious time for definitive imaging and management.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34548979
doi: 10.7759/cureus.17177
pmc: PMC8437209
doi:
Types de publication
Case Reports
Langues
eng
Pagination
e17177Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021, Harridine et al.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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