Gastric emphysema, referring to the presence of gas in the wall of the stomach, is a relatively rare imaging finding 1. The stomach is the least common location for intramural gas in the gastrointestinal tract.
Pathology
Etiology
There is a wide range of causes, ranging from life-threatening emphysematous gastritis to many self-limiting causes. Gastric emphysema is more common than emphysematous gastritis, but the two conditions may appear similar. Clinical presentation helps distinguish the two.
Gastric emphysema can be broadly divided into two categories based on etiology 2:
- gastric causes
- emphysematous gastritis (i.e. infectious)
- ischemia
- caustic ingestion
- increased intraluminal pressure (e.g. during endoscopy, over-eating 3, severe vomiting or in the setting of bowel obstruction)
- perforated gastric ulcer
- traumatic causes (e.g. endoscopic biopsy, endoscopic argon plasma coagulation, tube placement, blunt trauma)
- idiopathic
- extragastric causes
- small or large bowel ischemia
- gangrenous cholecystitis
- dissection of pulmonary gas (such as from rupture of a pulmonary bulla)
Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.