Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Penetrating injury to the soft palate causing retropharyngeal air collection
  1. K Wu,
  2. A Ahmed
  1. Department of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK
  1. Correspondence to:
 Mr K Wu
 75 Highcliffe Road, Sheffield S11 7LP, UK; drkenwuhotmail.com

Abstract

Pharyngeal injuries caused by trauma are common and have been reported previously in the medical literature. In some cases of a penetrating injury there is a collection of air in the retropharyngeal space that can be shown on lateral soft tissue radiography of the neck. If this condition is not diagnosed or adequately treated the patient may develop severe complications such as mediastinitis. A case is reported of a patient with penetrating injury caused by a curtain rail and the subsequent treatment is described.

  • pharyngeal injuries
  • retropharyngeal air
  • enteral nutrition

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.