TY - JOUR T1 - Penetrating injury to the soft palate causing retropharyngeal air collection JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 148 LP - 149 DO - 10.1136/emj.2003.006205 VL - 22 IS - 2 AU - K Wu AU - A Ahmed Y1 - 2005/02/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/22/2/148.abstract N2 - 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. ER -