Subcutaneous and Mediastinal Emphysema Followed by Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococci Mediastinitis. A Complicated Course after Adenotonsillectomy: Case Report
1
Department of Otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Sophia Children’s Hospital, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2
Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Erasmus Medical Center, Sophia Children’s Hospital, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Diagnostics 2019, 9(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics9010011
Received: 11 November 2018 / Accepted: 4 December 2018 / Published: 15 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Diseases)
Tonsillectomy is a commonly performed surgery in the daily practice of an otorhinolaryngologist. For patients as well as health professionals, the best known complication is post-operative bleeding. Among the less noted, but potentially life-threatening, complications are the development of subcutaneous emphysema and the presence of bacteremia due to group A hemolytic streptococci. In this report, we describe a severely complicated clinical course after an uncomplicated adenotonsillectomy in a young boy. Increased awareness of relatively unknown complications after adenotonsillectomy amongst surgeons, pediatricians and anesthesiologists is desirable to facilitate rapid diagnosis and adequate treatment in order to prevent life-threatening situations.
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Keywords:
tonsillectomy; subcutaneous emphysema; mediastinal emphysema; mediastinitis; complication; bacteremia
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Duvekot, A.; van Heesch, G.; Veder, L. Subcutaneous and Mediastinal Emphysema Followed by Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococci Mediastinitis. A Complicated Course after Adenotonsillectomy: Case Report. Diagnostics 2019, 9, 11.
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