Negative pressure therapy for the treatment of severe subcutaneous emphysema

Subcutaneous emphysema (SE) is the presence of air in the subcutaneous tissue. In severe cases, massive SE can lead to anxiety, pain, dyspnoea and decreased eye sight due to swelling. We describe two cases, a 75-year old male and a 66-year old male, who suffered from massive SE. When conventional th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde Vol. 164
Main Authors Wezel, A, Kidane, A S, Oosterhuis, J W A
Format Journal Article
LanguageDutch
Published Netherlands 05.11.2020
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Summary:Subcutaneous emphysema (SE) is the presence of air in the subcutaneous tissue. In severe cases, massive SE can lead to anxiety, pain, dyspnoea and decreased eye sight due to swelling. We describe two cases, a 75-year old male and a 66-year old male, who suffered from massive SE. When conventional therapy failed, transdermal incisions and negative pressure therapy (NPT) were applied. NPT is a commonly used method for wound care. NPT resulted in a fast relief of the SE-related symptoms in both our patients. In case of severe subcutaneous emphysema, when conventional drainage is insufficient, we recommend considering making incisions followed by the use of negative pressure therapy. This can result in a rapid drainage of the subcutaneous air, with significant relief of symptoms.
ISSN:0028-2162
1876-8784