Pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema in post COVID-19 patients in intensive care settings in a tertiary centre of North India: A retrospective study

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has been the major cause of mortality around the globe due to highly infectious nature of the virus and its tendency to cause serious manifestations like pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and ultimately respiratory failure. The incidence of patients developing pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema are also on the rise which has further increased the mortality. We conducted a retrospective analysis of COVID-19 patients who turned RT-PCR negative but still required intensive care, to see the incidence of pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema in ventilated as well as non-ventilated patients.: The data was collected from the hospital patient records between October 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021. The hospital medical records were used to furnish the various demographic, clinical and treatment details.: Out of 102 patients received in intensive care unit (ICU) during the study period, 9 developed pneumo-thorax and 4 of them also developed subcutaneous emphysema. 7 patients were male and 2 were female with median age of 52 years. Right sided pneumothorax was found in 7 patients while left lung was involved in 2 patients. Lab investigations of all these patients revealed raised inflammatory markers. Diagnosis was confirmed by clinical findings and chest X-ray findings. 7 patients had associated comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension etc.The occurrence of pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema in COVID-19 patients indicate the severity of the illness. Other factors like raised inflammatory markers, male gender, associated co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension and old age have also been linked with increased incidence of pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema.