Surgical emphysema (summary)

Changed by Craig Hacking, 2 Apr 2018

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This is a basic article for medical students and other non-radiologists

Surgical emphysema (or subcutaneous emphysema) occurs when air/gas is located in the subcutaneous tissues (the layer under the skin). This usually occurs in the chest, face or neck.

Reference article

This is a summary article; read more in our article on surgical emphysema.

Summary

pathophysiology
- gas within the soft tissues
- causes
  - tracheobronchial perforation with gas tracking
  - penetrating trauma

Imaging

role of imaging
- is there surgical emphysema?
- where is it distributed?
- is there other free gas? e.g. pneumomediastinum
- what's the cause? e.g. hyperinflation in asthma
radiographic features
- chest x-ray
  - gas within the soft tissues
  - easy to see in the neck and upper chest
  - may have a strange appearance with overlying structures
- CT chest
  - much more readily demonstrated on a CT
  - pockets of air seen as dark areas located in the subcutaneous tissues

-<p><strong>Surgical emphysema</strong> (or <strong>subcutaneous emphysema</strong>) occurs when air/gas is located in the subcutaneous tissues (the layer under the skin). This usually occurs in the chest, face or neck.</p><h4>Reference article</h4><p>This is a <a href="/articles/summary-article">summary article</a>; read more in our article on <a href="/articles/surgical-emphysema">surgical emphysema</a>.</p><h4>Summary</h4><ul><li>
+<h6>This is a basic article for medical students and other non-radiologists</h6><p><strong>Surgical emphysema</strong> (or <strong>subcutaneous emphysema</strong>) occurs when air/gas is located in the subcutaneous tissues (the layer under the skin). This usually occurs in the chest, face or neck.</p><h4>Reference article</h4><p>This is a <a href="/articles/summary-article">summary article</a>; read more in our article on <a href="/articles/surgical-emphysema">surgical emphysema</a>.</p><h4>Summary</h4><ul><li>

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