Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Emergency casebook

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.

“Punk” rock can be bad for you: a case of surgical emphysema from a “punk” rocker’s leather jacket ▸

Stab wounds to the thorax are seen in the emergency department and can be caused in a variety of ways. This case highlights an unusual cause of injury – a leather jacket with spikes on the back of it. This type of jacket is often worn by “Punks” as a fashion statement. We report that falling onto such a jacket may result in accidental thoracic injury leading to subcutaneous emphysema. A thorough clinical assessment is mandatory to exclude underlying lung injury or pneumothorax. In patients with subcutaneous emphysema and an otherwise normal chest x ray an in-hospital observation period of 24 hours, to observe for any delayed complications, is adequate if the patient remains clinically stable.

An unusual presentation of sphenoid sinusitis with septicaemia in a healthy young adult ▸

A 42 year old man presented with a two week history of worsening headache and high temperature. Physical and neurological examinations were unremarkable.

A full septic screen including lumbar puncture was preformed which showed a raised WBC and CSF with no growth. Chest x ray was normal and blood cultures were positive for Haemophilus influenzae.

The patient made a remarkable improvement on intravenous antibiotics and was …

View Full Text