A Spontaneous Tracheal Breach and a Pneumomediastinum in an 18-Month-Old Child: An Extremely Rare Case Report

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) in children was first defined by Hamman in 1939, Its Association to a posterior tracheal tear is even more uncommon. We report the case of an 18-month-child that presented a SPM associated to a posterior tracheal tear. The patient had no medical history and presented two days before her admission a dry cough and a shortness of breath. The radiological investigation showed a pneumomediastinum with an extensive subcutaneous emphysema and a posterior tear in the trachea. A conservative approach was adopted with a monitoring and surveillance of the regression of the emphysema, that showed a good evolution of the patient. The rare cases published in the literature make it hard to understand the features of this presentation, but the conservative approach has shown great results in patients as the prognosis is still favorable.