%0 Journal Article
%T Cervicofacial Emphysema, Pneumomediastinum, and Pneumothorax Following Dental Extraction: A Case report
%A Nargess Afzali
%A Adbolreza Malek
%J Iranian Journal of Radiology
%D 2010
%I Tehran University of Medical Sciences
%X Pneumomediastinum is an uncommon event that occurs when air leaks from any part of the lung or airways into the mediastinum. The condition may be caused by traumatic injury or by increased pressure within the lungs or airways such as excessive coughing, vomiting, or repeated bearing down to increase abdominal pressure during delivery or severe constipation. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum may also complicate obstructive airway processes such as asthma or foreign bodies. Subsequently, air along the connective tissue planes and vascular sheaths ascends up to the communicating cervical spaces, producing subcutaneous cervical emphysema in 70 to 90% of cases. In 31% of cases, it has no known precipitating cause. Pneumomediastinum following cervicofacial emphysema is rare. It has been found in the literature after dental extractions, head and neck surgery, or trauma in which the air passes from the air-filled spaces of the head (oral, nasal, and pharyngeal cavities) through the neck down to the mediastinum."nHereby we present a 16-year-old man complaining of sudden cervicofacial swelling, dyspnea and chest pain after second molar surgery. In physical examination, periorbital, cervical and thoracic emphysema were detected. Chest x ray showed subcutaneous emphysema in the cervicofacial, thoracic, and axillary regions with no evidence of rib fracture. Thoracic CT scan demonstrated air in the subcutaneous and cervical spaces extending along the anterior mediastinum. A left sided pneumothorax was also observed in the left lung apex. Antibiotic therapy was administered to prevent mediastinitis, and the patient's condition improved."nKeywords: Pneumomediastinum, Pneumothorax, Emphysema, Dental Extraction
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%U http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/15930.pdf&manuscript_id=15930