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Treating Pneumomediastinum

Home » Treating Pneumomediastinum
November 16, 2018
Edward Smith

Treating Pneumomediastinum — When someone sets foot inside a motor vehicle, there are lots of responsibilities that follow. Anyone who has ridden in a car understands that the risk of being involved in a car accident is very real and that serious injuries and fatalities could result. According to statistics that were published by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety:

  • There are close to 40 million people living in the state of California.
  • The vehicles in California cover more than 360,000 miles per year.
  • In 2016, there were more than 3,300 car accidents that involved a fatality.
  • There were close to 3,600 deaths from car accidents.
  • Close to 10 out of every 100,000 people living in California were killed in a car accident in 2016.

These statistics help to demonstrate just how serious car accidents are in the state of California. Most other states have similar statistics. There are many ways that car accidents can be deadly and one of these is through trauma to the chest. The chest is home to numerous vital organs and tissues, including the heart and the lungs, and is protected by a set of bones (the ribs). Unfortunately, there are still serious injuries that can develop from trauma to the chest. These injuries could lead to numerous complications, one of which is called pneumomediastinum.

An Overview of Pneumomediastinum

Pneumomediastinum is the medical term that is used to describe the abnormal finding of air in the mediastinum. The mediastinum is the central part of the chest and is protected by a thin layer of tissue. Air is supposed to be found in the trachea; however, following a traumatic accident, air can escape the trachea and fill the tissues in the center of the chest. When this happens, the individual is said to have a “pneumomediastinum.” If someone develops this abnormal finding, there are several different symptoms which might be present. These include:

  • Severe chest pain in the center of the chest.
  • Difficulty breathing from air pressing on the chest cavity.
  • A distorted voice that comes from air compressing the vocal cord.
  • A finding of subcutaneous emphysema, which refers to air underneath the skin in the chest, neck, and face.
  • A difficulty with people catching their breath.
  • A finding called “Hamman’s crunch,” which refers to the sound of “crunching air” when the doctor listens to the heart.
  • The development of cardiac tamponade from pressure around the heart.

These are all serious symptoms which can result from a number of different injuries.

Associated Injuries

There are several ways that someone can develop pneumomediastinum. The condition results from severe trauma to the chest or neck area, which leads to the release of air throughout the tissues in the chest cavity. Some of the injuries that people may have suffered include:

  • Multiple rib fractures
  • A ruptured trachea
  • A tear in the esophagus
  • A pulmonary contusion
  • Cardiac contusions
  • A tear of the aorta

These are all serious injuries that must be addressed when the physician treats pneumomediastinum. Some of these injuries can be life-threatening if not treated early. Therefore, rapid diagnosis is essential to ensuring that the individual has the best prognosis possible.

Treating Pneumomediastinum

The treatment of pneumomediastinum centers on treating the underlying injuries. The tissues will reabsorb the free air in the chest cavity gradually over time; however, the injuries mentioned above need to be corrected to stop the flow of air into the chest cavity. This means repairing rib fractures sewing up tears in the trachea or esophagus and making sure that any abnormal pressure around the lungs (from a pneumothorax) or the heart (from cardiac tamponade) are removed.

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Best Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyers

I’m Ed Smith, a Personal Injury Lawyer in Sacramento. Pneumomediastinum can be deadly. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in a car accident, call me at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly legal advice.

I am honored to be a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

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Image Attribution: The photo at the start of this article is seen in its original form on Pixabay. The image has been reproduced here with permission/ Treating Pneumomediastinum

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