Subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum in a posttraumatic patient: a case report

Subcutaneous emphysema is defined as the presence of free air in the subcutaneous tissues, and has numerous causes including blunt and penetrating trauma, soft tissue infection and surgical instrumentation. This is a forty-five year old house-wife referred for an emergency plain chest radiograph from a rural health care unit on account of chest trauma following a road traffic accident. The plain chest radiograph showed multiple rib fractures bilaterally, fractured right clavicle, lucencies within the mediastinum, lateral chest wall bilaterally, scapula region and neck regions bilaterally. Features of lung contusion more marked on the right upper zone were also demonstrated. We report the radiographic features of subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum which are often encountered following penetrating and blunt chest trauma most especially following road traffic accident in our environment.