[Subcutaneous cervical emphysema: complication of constipation. Review of the literature]

We report the case of a sixty-eight year old woman with chronic constipation, admitted in the emergency unit for respiratory deficiency and cervical subcutaneous emphysema. Endoscopy of the supradiaphragmatic air and digestive tracts was normal. Acutization of an abdominal syndrome required a laparotomy revealing a fissuration of the subperitoneal rectum on a fecal obstruction. This revealing complication may be explained by the topography of the cervico-thoraco-abdominal diffusion spaces.