Surgical emphysema after tonsillectomy in Jordan University Hospital

ABSTRACT

We report a case of a twenty-year old female patient who got subcutaneous emphysema following tonsillectomy. The patient had general anesthesia, intubation and ventilation air bubbles were noticed intraoperatively by the surgeon; then the patient developed surgical emphysema involving the face, neck and upper chest. Clinical and radiological assessment revealed a previous surgery in emphysema which extend to the anterior mediastinum and anterior chest wall and bilateral axillae with air in the retro peritoneal cavity. Management and follow-up where discussed, and to the best of our knowledge, our case is the first to be published from Jordan