This is a basic article for medical students and other non-radiologists
Surgical emphysema (or subcutaneous emphysema) occurs when air/gas is located in the subcutaneous tissues (the layer under the skin). This usually occurs in the chest, face or neck.
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Reference article
This is a summary article; read more in our article on surgical emphysema.
Summary
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pathophysiology
- gas within the soft tissues
- causes
- tracheobronchial perforation with gas tracking
- penetrating trauma
-
role of imaging
- is there surgical emphysema?
- where is it distributed?
- is there other free gas? e.g. pneumomediastinum
- what's the cause? e.g. hyperinflation in asthma
Radiographic features
Chest radiograph
- gas within the soft tissues
- easy to see in the neck and upper chest
- may have a strange appearance with overlying structures
CT chest
- much more readily demonstrated on a CT
- pockets of air seen as dark areas located in the subcutaneous tissues