 
                                                                                                    23/08/2025
                                            🩺 ℂ𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕁𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕣𝕤: : 🄿🄽🄴🅄🄼🄾🄼🄴🄳🄸🄰🅂🅃🄸🄽🅄🄼
We recently dealt with an interesting case of pneumomediastinum that was successfully managed conservatively. The patient is now in a resolving state and doing well.
🔹 What is Pneumomediastinum?
It’s the presence of air in the mediastinum, often resulting from alveolar rupture or airway/esophageal injury.
🔹 Causes:
Spontaneous (asthma, infections, forceful coughing/vomiting, Valsalva maneuver)
Traumatic/Iatrogenic (chest trauma, mechanical ventilation, intubation, endoscopy)
Serious causes: esophageal or tracheobronchial rupture
🔹 Key Clinical Features:
Chest pain, dyspnea
Subcutaneous emphysema
Hamman’s sign (crunching sound with heartbeat)
🔹 Investigations:
Chest X-ray: may show air outlining mediastinal structures
CT chest: more sensitive, rules out secondary causes
🔹 Management (as in our case):
✅ Oxygen therapy
✅ Analgesia
✅ Rest and observation
✅ Treat underlying precipitating cause
⚠️ Always rule out life-threatening conditions like esophageal rupture or tracheobronchial injury. Most cases, however, recover well with conservative care.
👉 This case is a good reminder for juniors that not all mediastinal air means surgery—clinical judgment and careful monitoring are the keys.
👉 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐗-𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 🤔 😊🤗
           
  
  
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