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
. 2023 Feb 8;14(2):20542704231153529.
doi: 10.1177/20542704231153529. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Acute subcutaneous emphysema: A rare clinical presentation of large bowel perforation

Affiliations
Case Reports

Acute subcutaneous emphysema: A rare clinical presentation of large bowel perforation

Matthew Dunckley et al. JRSM Open. .

Retraction in

Abstract

These atypical presentations of colonic perforation illustrate the importance of considering acute intra-abdominal pathology when subcutaneous emphysema is identified.

Keywords: colon; perforation; subcutaneous emphysema.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(a) Chest radiograph of Case 1 showing subcutaneous emphysema (SCE), pneumomediastinum (PM) and subdiaphragmatic air (SDA. (b) Sagittal computed tomography image of Case 1 showing extensive subcutaneous emphysema (SCE) of the thorax, perihepatic air (PHA) and marked dilatation of the transverse colon (TC).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) Chest radiograph of Case 2 showing gross subcutaneous emphysema (SCE) of the soft tissues and thorax. (b) Coronal computed tomography image of Case 2 showing subcutaneous emphysema (SCE) extending from the right laparoscopic port site into the soft tissues of the right flank.

Similar articles

References

    1. Maunder RJ, Pierson DJ, Hudson LD. Subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema. Pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. Arch Intern Med 1984; 144: 1447–1453. - PubMed
    1. Abdalla S, Gill R, Yusuf GT, Scarpinata R. Anatomical and radiological considerations when colonic perforation leads to subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothoraces, pneumomediastinum and mediastinal shift. Surg J 2018; 4: e7–e13. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Catarino PA, Smith EE. Subcutaneous emphysema of the thorax heralding colonic perforation. Ann Thorac Surg 2001; 71: 1341–1343. - PubMed
    1. Hunt I, Van Gelderen F, Irwin R. Subcutaneous emphysema of the neck and colonic perforation. Emerg Med J 2002; 19: 465. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schmidt GB, Bronkhorst MW, Hartgrink HH, Bouwman LH. Subcutaneous cervical emphysema and pneumomediastinum due to a lower gastrointestinal perforation. World J Gastroent 2008; 14: 3922–3923. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources