Retropharyngeal emphysema is a severe condition which may be life-threatening requiring urgent diagnosis and intervention. This condition may occur with subcutaneous emphysema of the cervical region and may also be complicated by mediastinal emphysema and pneumomediastinum. A 9-year-old Nigerian boy was admitted into the emergency unit of a foremost teaching hospital in South Western Nigeria with a 5-hour history of progressively worsening dyspnoea. There was a history of foreign body ingestion - a round plastic ball bearing. Several attempts to remove the foreign body were made by thrusting the fingers down his throat while holding him in a head down position. Urgent x-rays of the neck and chest were performed. The lateral x-ray of the soft tissue neck revealed widening lucency within the prevertebral soft tissue from the basiocciput, extending below the 7th cervical vertebra; which was indicative of spontaneous retropharyngeal emphysema. Streaks of air were also seen in the subcutaneous tissue of the neck. Retropharyngeal emphysema is seldom thought of by clinicians as a differential in the management of patients presenting with acute upper aerodigestive tract conditions. Health education to increase public awareness of the potential ills of some ‘socio-cultural’ practices is of paramount importance in order to reduce the incidence of this potentially life-threatening condition in pediatrics.
| Published in | Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (Volume 2, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12 |
| Page(s) | 55-57 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Retropharyngeal Emphysema, Paediatrics, Respiratory Medicine, Aerodigestive Tract, Radiology
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APA Style
Anselm Ejike Chukwuani, Emmanuel Chukwurah, Franklin Obinna Eneje, David Oselumenosen Omiyi. (2017). Spontaneous Retropharyngeal Emphysema in a Paediatric Patient; Radiological Findings. Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 2(3), 55-57. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12
ACS Style
Anselm Ejike Chukwuani; Emmanuel Chukwurah; Franklin Obinna Eneje; David Oselumenosen Omiyi. Spontaneous Retropharyngeal Emphysema in a Paediatric Patient; Radiological Findings. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 2017, 2(3), 55-57. doi: 10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12,
author = {Anselm Ejike Chukwuani and Emmanuel Chukwurah and Franklin Obinna Eneje and David Oselumenosen Omiyi},
title = {Spontaneous Retropharyngeal Emphysema in a Paediatric Patient; Radiological Findings},
journal = {Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine},
volume = {2},
number = {3},
pages = {55-57},
doi = {10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pam.20170203.12},
abstract = {Retropharyngeal emphysema is a severe condition which may be life-threatening requiring urgent diagnosis and intervention. This condition may occur with subcutaneous emphysema of the cervical region and may also be complicated by mediastinal emphysema and pneumomediastinum. A 9-year-old Nigerian boy was admitted into the emergency unit of a foremost teaching hospital in South Western Nigeria with a 5-hour history of progressively worsening dyspnoea. There was a history of foreign body ingestion - a round plastic ball bearing. Several attempts to remove the foreign body were made by thrusting the fingers down his throat while holding him in a head down position. Urgent x-rays of the neck and chest were performed. The lateral x-ray of the soft tissue neck revealed widening lucency within the prevertebral soft tissue from the basiocciput, extending below the 7th cervical vertebra; which was indicative of spontaneous retropharyngeal emphysema. Streaks of air were also seen in the subcutaneous tissue of the neck. Retropharyngeal emphysema is seldom thought of by clinicians as a differential in the management of patients presenting with acute upper aerodigestive tract conditions. Health education to increase public awareness of the potential ills of some ‘socio-cultural’ practices is of paramount importance in order to reduce the incidence of this potentially life-threatening condition in pediatrics.},
year = {2017}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Spontaneous Retropharyngeal Emphysema in a Paediatric Patient; Radiological Findings AU - Anselm Ejike Chukwuani AU - Emmanuel Chukwurah AU - Franklin Obinna Eneje AU - David Oselumenosen Omiyi Y1 - 2017/08/02 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12 DO - 10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12 T2 - Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine JF - Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine JO - Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine SP - 55 EP - 57 PB - Science Publishing Group UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pam.20170203.12 AB - Retropharyngeal emphysema is a severe condition which may be life-threatening requiring urgent diagnosis and intervention. This condition may occur with subcutaneous emphysema of the cervical region and may also be complicated by mediastinal emphysema and pneumomediastinum. A 9-year-old Nigerian boy was admitted into the emergency unit of a foremost teaching hospital in South Western Nigeria with a 5-hour history of progressively worsening dyspnoea. There was a history of foreign body ingestion - a round plastic ball bearing. Several attempts to remove the foreign body were made by thrusting the fingers down his throat while holding him in a head down position. Urgent x-rays of the neck and chest were performed. The lateral x-ray of the soft tissue neck revealed widening lucency within the prevertebral soft tissue from the basiocciput, extending below the 7th cervical vertebra; which was indicative of spontaneous retropharyngeal emphysema. Streaks of air were also seen in the subcutaneous tissue of the neck. Retropharyngeal emphysema is seldom thought of by clinicians as a differential in the management of patients presenting with acute upper aerodigestive tract conditions. Health education to increase public awareness of the potential ills of some ‘socio-cultural’ practices is of paramount importance in order to reduce the incidence of this potentially life-threatening condition in pediatrics. VL - 2 IS - 3 ER -
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