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
. 2019 Apr;31(2):106-108.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsha.2019.01.001. Epub 2019 Feb 8.

An unexpected complication of robotic cardiac surgery: Pneumomediastinum

Gökhan Erol  1 , Emre Kubat  1 , Hüseyin Sicim  1 , Murat Kadan  1 , Cengiz Bolcal  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

An unexpected complication of robotic cardiac surgery: Pneumomediastinum

Gökhan Erol et al. J Saudi Heart Assoc. 2019 Apr.

Abstract

Pneumomediastinum is a rare entity that is defined as free air in the mediastinal space. A 26-year-old male patient was admitted with pneumomediastinum as an unexpected complication of robotic surgery. Diffuse subcutanous emphysema was observed suddenly on Postoperative Day 3 without respiratory distress. Air trapping into the mediastinum was seen on chest X-ray and computed tomography. The patient was followed in the intensive care unit for 7 days and managed conservatively. Subcutaneous emphysema reduced gradually. In conclusion, although it is a rare condition, pneumomediastinum should be kept in mind as a complication of robotic cardiac surgery.

Keywords: Atrial septal defect; Cardiac surgery; Pneumomediastinum; Robotic surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pneumomediastinum and air in soft tissue seen on chest X-ray.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Computed tomography imaging of pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. Air trapping within the upper anterior chest wall and soft tissue (A, B). Pneumomediastinum and pneumopericardium seen on axial computed tomography scans (C, D).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Kouritas V.K., Papagiannopoulos K., Lazaridis G., Baka S., Mpoukovinas I., Karavasilis V. Pneumomediastinum. J Thorac Dis. 2015;7:44–49. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pettinari M., Navarra E., Noirhomme P., Gutermann H. The state of robotic cardiac surgery in Europe. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2017;6:1–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Senay S., Gullu A.U., Kocyigit M., Degirmencioglu A., Karabulut H., Alhan C. Robotic atrial septal defect closure. Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg. 2014;7:2014. - PubMed
    1. Carpentier A., Loulmet D., Aupècle B., Kieffer J.P., Torunay D., Guibourt P. Computer assisted open heart surgery. First case operated on with success. C R Acad Sci. 1998;321:437–442. - PubMed
    1. Hawkins R.B., Mehaffey J.H., Mullen M.G., Nifong W.L., Chitwood W.R., Katz M.R. Investigators for the Virginia Cardiac Services Quality Initiative. A propensity matched analysis of robotic, minimally invasive, and conventional mitral valve surgery. Heart. 2018;104:1970–1975. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources