Subcutaneous emphysema is the local tissue swelling caused by the gas entering the subcutaneous tissue through the tissue gap. Although subcutaneous emphysema is usually a nonfatal and self-limited disease, in severe cases, the gas may spread to the neck, mediastinum and chest, resulting in mediastinal emphysema and other serious complications. This article reviews the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, differential diagnosis of subcutaneous emphysema related to dental therapy,and operations that may cause subcutaneous emphysema in stomatology department,as well as the treatment and prognosis of subcutaneous emphysema, with a view to providing some references for dentists.
Humans ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Mediastinal Emphysema/pathology* ; Subcutaneous Emphysema/therapy* ; Neck/pathology* ; Face

Subcutaneous emphysema is commonly associated with infection caused by gas-producing organisms. In this case report, we describe a rare instance of traumatic subcutaneous emphysema of the hand and forearm caused by a puncture injury to the first web space of the hand. Our objective is to increase awareness of the potential for seemingly minor trauma to cause entrapment of significant air in subcutaneous tissues, thereby decreasing the likelihood that a clinically benign-appearing patient will be started down an unnecessarily aggressive treatment pathway. A 16-year-old, otherwise healthy white female, presented to the pediatric emergency room with an impressive amount of subcutaneous emphysema that developed over a 12-h period after sustaining an accidental laceration to the first web space of her right hand. She appeared nontoxic and had a clinically benign presentation. A comprehensive work-up was performed. She was splinted by the orthopedic surgery resident on call, and was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for overnight monitoring. She received tetanus vaccination and broad-spectrum antibiotics. The patient was discharged 2 days after admittance, with a splint applied to her right hand and forearm. She undertook home-based physical and occupational therapy. She had a pain-free range-of-motion in the right wrist, elbow and shoulder. The swelling in the right hand subsided completely. Although initially alarming, traumatic subcutaneous emphysema in an otherwise healthy patient from minor wounds (as featured in this case) does not necessarily mean one ought to proceed down an aggressive treatment algorithm. Careful evaluation of the patient's history, clinical examination findings, and determination of the Laboratory Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis score can help guide physicians in the management of traumatic subcutaneous emphysema and potentially avoid unnecessary and costly interventions.
Humans ; Child ; Female ; Adolescent ; Forearm ; Subcutaneous Emphysema/diagnosis* ; Upper Extremity ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Wounds, Penetrating/surgery*

Humans ; Mediastinal Emphysema ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Thyroidectomy/adverse effects*

Emergency physicians in the field are sometimes confronted with cases wherein patients cannot be intubated and ventilated. In some cases, cricothyrotomy, the method of choice for securing an emergency airway, may not have a successful outcome. We report a rare case of a 35-year-old male patient with avulsion of the larynx and a comminuted fracture of the jawbone, due to entrapment in a dung excavator. Prehospital tracheotomy was successfully performed. In cases with crush injuries to the larynx, anatomic structures, including the ligamentum conicum, are destroyed. In addition, massive subcutaneous emphysema blurs the anatomical key structures; hence, only a tracheotomy can prevent a lethal outcome.
Adult ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; Fractures, Cartilage ; Fractures, Comminuted ; Humans ; Larynx ; Male ; Methods ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Tracheotomy

A recent achalasia guideline suggests that peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a safe option for achalasia that is as effective as Heller myotomy. It is recommended that POEM should be performed under general anesthesia. The incidence of adverse events such as bleeding, perforation, and carbon dioxide insufflation-related complications was lower in POEM under endotracheal general anesthesia than in POEM under sedation. Subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, pneumoperitoneum, and accompanying hemodynamic instability can be caused by carbon dioxide insufflation. Treatment of possible physiological changes and adverse events during the POEM procedure from the point of view of anesthesiologists may give endoscopists a new perspective on improving patient safety. The territory of therapeutic endoscopy can be expanded through cooperation with other departments, including anesthesia services. Efforts to understand different perspectives will certainly help not only secure patient safety but also expand the area of treatment.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Carbon Dioxide ; Endoscopy ; Esophageal Achalasia ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage ; Incidence ; Insufflation ; Mediastinal Emphysema ; Patient Safety ; Pneumoperitoneum ; Pneumothorax ; Subcutaneous Emphysema

Palatine tonsillectomy is a very common procedure and it is relatively safe and has few complications. However, some severe, although rare, complications that can lead a patient to life-threatening status can occur following palatine tonsillectomy. Subcutaneous or mediastinal emphysema is one of the severe complications. We report a case of subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum after palatine tonsillectomy in a healthy 18-year-old man. After conservative management, subcutaneous emphysema was subsided without other complications.
Adolescent ; Emphysema ; Humans ; Mediastinal Emphysema ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Tonsillectomy

Traumatic subcutaneous emphysema, which is the infiltration of air into subcutaneous tissues due to trauma, is caused by various factors such as chest and/or abdominal trauma, facial fractures, and barotrauma caused by mechanical ventilation. In this case report, a 32-year-old woman developed traumatic subcutaneous emphysema after undergoing abdominal liposuction at a local clinic. She was subsequently admitted to Busan Paik Hospital, and with early diagnosis and conservative treatment, she was discharged on the seventh day of hospitalization with no complications. However, because traumatic subcutaneous emphysema may accompany other injuries for various reasons, radiological examination and various tests should be performed to prevent serious complications and sequelae.
Adult ; Barotrauma ; Busan ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Lipectomy ; Respiration, Artificial ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Thorax

PURPOSE: The standard treatment of esophageal cancer is the Ivor-Lewis operation, which consists of an abdominal phase involving gastric tube formation, and a chest phase involving esophagectomy and anastomosis. We aimed to report our experience of performing thoracic esophagectomy with the laparoscopic gastric pull up (LGPU) technique and its surgical outcomes.METHODS: Clinicopathologic data and short-term surgical outcomes of 14 patients who underwent LGPU for thoracic esophageal cancer from August 2008 to May 2016 were retrospectively reviewed.RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 62.3 years and mean body mass index was 21.7 kg/m2. Eleven patients had medical comorbidities. Patients' mean American Society of Anesthesiologists score was 2. Mean operation time was 428.5 minutes, with the mean abdominal operation time being 138.9 minutes. There was no open conversion case. Three patients had pneumonia, three patients had surgical site infection, and one patient had subcutaneous emphysema within 30 days after surgery. One patient had minor anastomosis site leakage. There was one 30-day mortality case. One patient with postoperative aspiration pneumonia developed acute respiratory distress disease, and died due to sepsis. Mean postoperative intensive care unit stay was 3.5 days, and mean postoperative hospital stay was 20.6 days. Nasogastric tubes were removed on average at 3.4 days, and mean oral intake time was 3.4 days.CONCLUSION: If the gastrointestinal surgeon has extensive experience in laparoscopic procedures, LGPU will be a safe and feasible technique for thoracic esophagectomy in patients with intrathoracic esophageal cancer.
Body Mass Index ; Comorbidity ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; Esophagectomy ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Laparoscopes ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Pneumonia ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Surgical Wound Infection ; Thorax

We report the case of a 16-year-old male patient who was involved in a traffic accident and transferred to the emergency department with mild chest pain. We initially did not find evidence of tracheal injury on computed tomography (CT). Within an hour after presentation, the patient developed severe dyspnea and newly developed subcutaneous emphysema and pneumoperitoneum were discovered. Abdominal CT showed no intra-abdominal injury. However, destruction of the right main bronchus was identified on coronal images of the initially performed CT scan. Emergency exploratory surgery was performed. The amputated right main bronchus was identified. End-to-end tracheobronchial anastomosis was performed, and the patient recovered without any complications.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adolescent ; Bronchi* ; Bronchial Diseases ; Chest Pain ; Dyspnea ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Male ; Pneumoperitoneum* ; Rupture* ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Iatrogenic postintubation tracheal injury is a rare but potentially fatal complication associated with anesthesia. However, as signs of tracheal injury including subcutaneous emphysema, pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax, and respiratory distress may also be related to surgical technique, diagnosis may be confused and treatment of tracheal injury can be delayed. We report a case of postintubation tracheal laceration, whose diagnosis was delayed because of symptoms were confused with subcutaneous emphysema after septorhinoplasty including osteotomy. As symptoms deteriorated in spite of conventional management, patient underwent evaluation to determine other causes and eventually postintubation tracheal injury was detected. Therefore, even if there is no problem during tracheal intubation, it is necessary to consider postintubation tracheal injury in patients with subcutaneous emphysema that worsens despite appropriate treatment after septorhinoplasty including osteotomy.
Anesthesia ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Lacerations ; Mediastinal Emphysema ; Osteotomy ; Pneumothorax ; Subcutaneous Emphysema