• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.5
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• pp.389-391
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• 2010

Spinal epidural emphysema is rare and has been described secondary to following medical intervention, such as lumbar puncture and epidural analgesia, pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum, degenerative disk disease, epidural abscess, and trauma. Rarely, it occurs after chest tube placement. We report a case of spinal epidural emphysema incidentally noted on HRCT after chest tube placement.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.372-375
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• 2000

Spinal epidural emphysema is rare, and only a few cases have ever been reported. A 18 year-old man was admitted for neck and chest pain for 3 days. Before admission he experienced rhinorrhea and severe cough. Physical examination revealed wheezing on whole lung field and subcutaneous emphysema over the upper portion of the chest and neck. Chest radiograph showed pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema in the neck and chest CT images demonstrate a free air in the prevertebral fascia. With conservative management, the patient's condition and the pneumomediastinum improved. The patient was discharged to home on the fourteenth day.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2010

Tracheal injury is a rare complication of endo-tracheal intubation. However in neonates, the rates of morbidity and mortality are high. Recommendations for treatment are based on the several reports of this injury and are individualized. Conservative management can be effective in some cases. We describe the case of a neonate who presented with subcutaneous emphysema after intubation in a neonatal intensive care unit. This patient suffered full VACTERL syndrome and had 1.7 mm diameter subglottic stenosis. Conservative management resulted in no further increase in subcutaneous emphysema and after 10 days the patient was stable.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.190-193
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• 2012

A 2-month-old, intact female Alaskan Malamute was presented for evaluation of dyspnea and subcutaneous emphysema of the neck following biting wound. Two small punctured skin lesions and crepitus on the neck were found during physical examination. Radiographs revealed pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. Confirmative diagnosis of tracheal laceration was made by identifying the tracheal wall discontinuity on the computed tomography. CT is a valuable tool to diagnose an external traumatic tracheal injury, and more specifically, to assess the location and the extent of laceration, and it leads to early definitive treatment and reduction of the incidence of complications.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.344-350
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• 2007

Laryngo-tracheal perforation caused by the use of a stylet during tracheal intubation is a rare complication. We present a case of subcutaneous emphysema and connective tissue inflammation after tracheal intubation. The patient was a 41-year-old male undergoing general anesthesia for an appendectomy. The intubation was difficult during laryngoscopy (Cormack- Lehane Grade III). An assistant provided an endotracheal tube with a stylet inside while the laryngoscope was in place. During intubation, a short, dull sound was heard with a sudden loss of resistance after the distal tip of the endotracheal tube passed the rima glottis. A sonogram and computerized tomography revealed subcutaneous emphysema from the neck to the upper mediastinum and fluid collection between the trachea and the thyroid. This lesion appeared to have been caused by the protruded, loose stylet. Anesthesiologists should be aware of the damage a loose stylet protruding beyond the tip of the endotracheal tube can cause.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.54-57
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• 2016

Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) has become an increasingly popular method of establishing an airway for patients in need of chronic ventilator assistance. We report a rare case of a 42-year-old female who developed extensive subcutaneous emphysema, bilateral pneumothoraces, pneumomediastinum, and pneumoperitoneum after percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. The patient suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and underwent PDT after a period of mechanical ventilation. During PDT, tracheostomy tube was inserted into the paratracheal space. Follow-up chest radiography and computed tomography of chest and abdomen revealed extensive subcutaneous emphysema, bilateral pneumothoraces, pneumomediastinum, and pneumoperitoneum. The patient was treated successfully with insertion of the thoracostomy tube and conservative care.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 1978

H.S. Lee, M.D., H.S. Yu, M.D. Esophageal perforation occurred rarely but often lead to a high mortality and morbidity. In the past, the main cause of esophageal perforation in Korea were instrumental perforation in patient with lye stricture of the esophagus. We experienced 9 cases of other forms of esophageal perforation from 1972 through 1977 and obtained the following results. 1. These 9 patients ranged from 10 months to 40 years in age at the time of admission. Six were women. 2. Causes of perforation are instrumental perforation in 3, foreign body perforation in 3, spontaneous perforation in 3 and one pneumatic esophageal perforation. 3. Perforation developed in a variety of locations in the esophagus. Three occurred in cervical part, two in the upper thoracic part, two in the lower thoracic part. 4. The main clinical symptoms and signs were dyspnea, subcutaneous emphysema, chest pain and fever. 5. Thoracic rentgenogram disclosed subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema, widening of mediastinum and pleural effusion at the time of admission. 6. Complications of esophageal perforation were mediastinitis [7 cases], empyema [4 case], respiratory distress [4 cases] and sepsis [3 cases]. 7. In 3 deaths of the nine patients who sustained perforation of the esophagus, one was due to transfusion of infected blood and two of them were due to sepsis following empyema and mediastinitis. Early treatment [less than 24 hr] gave no hospital death, and good results obtained in the perforations of cervical and upper thoracic esophagus.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.331-334
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• 1994

Pneumatic rupture is a rare cause of esophageal injury, as evidenced by only 19 cases reported in the literature. We experienced one case of esophageal rupture due to bursting of a truck inner tube. The patient, who was a 45-year old male, had severe chest pain, respiratory distress, flushing in the face and neck, and subcutaneous emphysema after tire explosion. Three days after the incident, a diagnosis of rupture of the thoracic esophagus was established by esophagogram using water soluble contrast media, and then emergency operation was done. The operation involved mediastinal and thoracic drainage and resection of the esophagus combined with cervical esophagostomy and feeding gastrostomy. On the 105th day after the operation, cervical esophagogastrostomy via substernal route was performed. The patient was successfully treated with the staged operations. As in the other reported cases, the injury was located in the lower one third of the esophagus. Four main characteristics of the clinical signs of pneumatic rupture are 1] wounds or burns to the face or mouth, 2] chest pain or epigastric pain, 3] subcutaneous emphysema, and 4] respiratory distress. We emphasize that the high index of suspicion of esophageal rupture is very important in diagnosis and that diagnosis should be based on the same findings common to other forms of esophageal injury.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.78 no.4
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• pp.360-362
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• 2015

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (PM) is an uncommon condition in which free air enters the mediastinum. This usually occurs either through esophageal tears after vigorous vomiting, or after alveolar rupture subsequent to a rapid increase in intra-alveolar pressure. Spontaneous PM is a rare entity in anorexia nervosa (AN) and self-induced vomiting is often the cause of PM in patients with AN. We experienced a case of spontaneous PM in an anorexic adolescent, in whom vomiting was not the cause of PM.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.75-78
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• 2014

Hypopharyngeal perforation is a rare, but fatal, complication. Clinical signs and symptoms of this condition are neck pain, odynophagia, dysphagia, fever, vomiting, cervical swelling and subcutaneous emphysema. However, these signs are obscured in patient suffering from severe trauma who has had an endotracheal tube inserted, which delay proper evaluation and treatment. Here, we report a case of hypopharyngeal perforation in a trauma patient who had an endotracheal tube inserted for mechanical ventilation.