Medical education Snapshot
Respiratory disease
Volume 207 - Issue 10

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum

Authors:  Ching Soong Khoo and Siti Soraya Ab Rahman

Med J Aust 2017; 207 (10): 421. || doi: 10.5694/mja17.00140
Published online: 20 November 2017

A 20-year-old man with asthma presented with a 5-day history of coughing bouts and pleuritic chest pain

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A 20-year-old man with asthma presented with a 5-day history of coughing bouts and pleuritic chest pain, and a 2-day history of neck swelling and breathlessness. On examination, he had mild tachypnoea with no stridor, and had subcutaneous emphysema from the anterior neck, down to the infraclavicular regions and into the right arm. Auscultation revealed widespread rhonchi and prolonged expiratory phase. X-rays revealed extensive pneumomediastinum (Figure, A) and subcutaneous emphysema (Figure, B). He was managed with high flow oxygen, nebulised bronchodilators and intravenous steroids and was discharged at 10 days of follow-up.

Bronchial asthma accounts for 22–50% of spontaneous pneumomediastinum.1

Figure

Authors

  • Ching Soong Khoo1
  • Siti Soraya Ab Rahman2
  • 1. Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2. Islamic Science University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Correspondence: cskhoo@ppukm.ukm.edu.my

Competing interests

No relevant disclosures.

References

Provenance: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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