Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2016 Dec;54(4):172-174.
doi: 10.5152/tao.2016.1888. Epub 2016 Dec 1.

A Rare Complication of Tonsillectomy: Subcutaneous Emphysema

Ozan Erol  1 , Erdinç Aydın  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Rare Complication of Tonsillectomy: Subcutaneous Emphysema

Ozan Erol et al. Turk Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Tonsillectomy is one of the surgical procedures that are frequently performed by ear, nose, and throat surgeons. The procedure is associated with many intraoperative and postoperative complications, and the nature of the operation site hampers surgical interventions. Cervicofacial subcutaneous emphysema is characterized by the presence of air within the fascial planes of the head-neck region because of various reasons. It may develop iatrogenically or spontaneously because of trauma. Herein, we report a 4-year-old male patient who presented to our clinic with complaints of frequent tonsillitis and snoring and who developed subcutaneous emphysema involving only the maxillofacial region following tonsillectomy. In addition, treatment strategies have been discussed, taking current literature into account.

Keywords: Tonsillectomy; complication; subcutaneous emphysema.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Swelling that postoperatively occurred on the right side of the patient’s face (arrows)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Posteroanterior cranial radiograph showing the air under the skin on the right side of the face (arrow)
Figure 3
Figure 3
View of the patient on the postoperative sixth day
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bizaki A, Kääriäinen J, Harju T, Rautiainen M. Facial subcutaneous emphysema after tonsillectomy. Head Face Med. 2014;10:11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-160X-10-11. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Villagra Siles EJ, Rodríguez Perales MA, García Mendoza A, Zaiden Torrez A. Cervical emphysema after tonsillectomy. A case report. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Esp. 2006;57:251–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-6519(06)78702-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kim JP, Park JJ, Kang HS, Song MS. Subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum after tonsillectomy. Am J Otolaryngol. 2010;31:212–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjoto.2009.02.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Torgay A, Aydin E, Cilasun U, Durmaz L, Arslan G. Subcutaneous emphysema after dental treatment: a case report. Paediatr Anaesth. 2006;16:314–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9592.2005.01665.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Düzgün N, Esme H, Övet E, Çalık M, Kurtipek E. Tonsillektominin nadir bir komplikasyonu: Pnömomediastinum. Respir Case Rep. 2014;3:163–5.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources