Current Thoracic Surgery 2021 , Vol 6 , Issue 1
Clinical and radiological characteristics of patients treated with the diagnosis of spontaneous pneumomediastinum
Burçin Çelik1,Mehmet Gökhan Pirzirenli1,Yasemin Bilgin Büyükkarabacak1,Volkan Yılmaz1,Selçuk Gürz1,Ayşen Taslak Şengül1,Ahmet Başoğlu1
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ondokuz Mayis University Medical School, Samsun, Turkey DOI : 10.26663/cts.2021.0001 Viewed : 3423 - Downloaded : 1263 Background: Pneumomediastinum is defined as the presence of air in the mediastinal region. It is associated with events or diseases leading to a sudden increase in alveolar pressure. The air in the mediastinum may originate in the pharynx, the tracheobronchial tree or the esophagus. This study aimed to assess the clinical and radiological characteristics of patients who were diagnosed with spontaneous pneumomediastinum and received treatment at our clinic.

Materials and Methods: A total of 23 patients who had spontaneous pneumomediastinum and were treated at our clinic between 2007 and 2019 were retrospectively assessed for their age, etiological factors, clinical and radiological characteristics; treatment and outcomes. Chest radiography and computed tomography of the thorax were used for diagnosis in all patients.

Results: Of the patients, 15 were males and eight females and their mean age was 33.91 (15-82) years. The most common symptom on admission was shortness of breath (n = 12) and chest pain (n = 11). The etiological factors were excessive vomiting in six patients and excessive cough in five. Radiologically, the most common findings besides pneumomediastinum were subcutaneous emphysema (n = 6) and pneumothorax (n = 4). Of the patients, seven required esophagoscopy, four required bronchoscopy and no pathology was observed. All patients were fully recovered when they were discharged.

Conclusions: The underlying etiological factor is crucial in pneumomediastinum. Conservative treatment methods are often sufficient in spontaneous pneumomediastinum patients with no pathology in endoscopic evaluation. Keywords : pneumomediastinum, radiology, spontaneous, conservative treatment