Extensive tension pneumocephalus presented in the setting of a challenging etiology

Abstract

Background: Pneumocephalus (PNC) is a well-described consequence in postoperative settings and skull fractures that is usually self-limiting. It can get complicated into tension PNC on some rare occasions, leading to an intracranial mass effect. PNC was also reported after unintentional dural puncture throughout the epidural anesthesia process. However, tension PNC resulting from epidural anesthesia procedures is an extremely rare outcome that implies urgent intervention to relieve the tension within the brain. Here, we report a case of an extensive tension intraventricular PNC 2 days following an epidural anesthesia procedure for a femur fixation surgery.

Case description: A 23-year-old male presented to the emergency department with basal skull fractures and a femur fracture due to a motorcycle accident. His skull base fracture was managed conservatively then he underwent a femur fixation procedure under epidural anesthesia. Two days after, he developed a severe headache with a disturbed level of consciousness. Computed tomography of the brain revealed an extensive PNC that involved all the subarachnoid spaces down to the cervical region and compressing the cerebellum, which was not found in the initial imaging. The patient's status improved after the twist-drill burr-hole evacuation of air under the water seal.

Conclusion: Extensive tension PNC can occur after traumatic brain injury, especially after epidural anesthesia. Such cases should gain high focus because they may differ from simple PNC regarding diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

Keywords: Epidural anesthesia; Intraventricular aerocele; Pneumocephalus; Tension pneumocephalus; Traumatic brain injury.

Figure 1:

Computed tomography scan of the head (axial view) reveals a large collection of intracranial air in all the cerebral ventricular system.

Figure 2:

Computed tomography scan of the head (sagittal view), 3-h postoperation shows reduced pneumocephalus intracranially.

Figure 3:

Cranial computed tomography scan (sagittal view), 8-h postoperation shows subsequent reduction of the pneumocephalus.