Minor trauma resulting in massive subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum

Summary

A 79-year-old woman was admitted after a fall at home. Crepitations were detected on palpation of the chest, neck, and face. A chest X-ray film and Computed tomography revealed massive subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum. Very rarely, as in the present case, rib fracture results in laceration of the pleura, causing subcutaneous emphysema.

Keywords: Pneumothorax, Pneumomediastinum, Blunt trauma, Subcutaneous emphysema

Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Rambam Health Care Campus and Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Corresponding author. Tel.: +97248542231; fax: +97248542031.

PII: S1755-0017(08)00113-9

doi:10.1016/j.rmedc.2008.12.009

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