Pneumomediastinum as a cause of acute chest pain postpartum

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Protocol and Guidelines for Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound in Diagnosing Neonatal Pulmonary Diseases Based on International Expert Consensus
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Bertho Nieboer1, Nail Aboosy, Louis Verschoor

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rijnstate Hospital, Johan de Wittlaan 80, 6838 WJ Arnhem, The Netherlands. berthonieboer@hotmail.com

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine : the Official Journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians
|July 21, 2006
PubMed

Pneumomediastinum can easily be mistaken for a pulmonary embolus or myocardial infarction. We describe herein a case of pneumomediastinum postpartum. A primigravida complained five-hours postpartum of acute chest pain and mild dyspnea. The initial (working) diagnosis was pulmonary embolus and the patient was treated with antithrombotic therapy. A CT scan revealed the real cause of the chest pain: pneumomediastinum. The patient was given adequate analgesia and two days later was able to leave the hospital in good clinical condition. We suggest that in the case of acute chest pain during or shortly following labor, pneumomediastinum should be considered.

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