Subcutaneous emphysema, pneumo-orbita and pneumomediastinum following a facial trauma caused by a high-pressure car washer

Abstract

Pneumomediastinum is air leakage to mediastinal space from various potential sites, including lung, esophagus, trachea, and neck. It is a rare condition that develops either spontaneously with increased intraalveolar or intrabronchial pressure, or due to trauma. Although cases where face or neck trauma with subcutaneous emphysema that extended to mediastinal cavity via anatomical connections in face and neck have been reported, orbital traumas leading to pneumomediastinum are very rare occurrences that have seldom been reported. This paper documents a 17-year-old male who presented with diffuse subcutaneous emphysema involving paraorbital facial areas, which extended to neck and mediastinal cavity.