Spontaneous Facial Subcutaneous Emphysema

Abstract

Patients with spontaneous pneumomediastinum present with various manifestations, but it is extremely rare for head and neck signs to be the sole presenting feature. In fact, our search of the literature found only 1 previously documented case of spontaneous facial subcutaneous emphysema of the head and neck. In this article, we report what to the best of our knowledge is the second such case—and the first in which pneumomediastinum manifested as an isolated cheek swelling.