Summary: This is a case report of a spontaneous pneumomediastinum and surgical emphysema in a 32-year-old woman presenting a few hours after forceps vaginal delivery with symptoms of chest tightness, shortness of breath and swelling in the neck, which resolved with conservative management. It is a rare but potentially dangerous complication of labour, which can be accurately diagnosed with clinical features and chest X-ray. The treatment is conservative as it is usually self-limiting and recurrence in subsequent pregnancies is extremely rare.Keywords: high-risk pregnancy, thoracic medicine, pneumomediastinum
CASE REPORTA 32-year-old fit and well Caucasian woman with an uneventful pregnancy presented in spontaneous labour at 40 weeks. This was her second pregnancy and the previous was a miscarriage at eight weeks. She was a non-smoker and her body mass index was 23. The progress in the first stage was good and lasted 10 hours. She had an epidural for analgesia and after one hour of passive descent started pushing. The baby weighing 4.2 kg was delivered by forceps due to failure to progress after 1 and a 1/2 hours of pushing.Twelve hours after delivery, she reported swelling in the neck, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Her vital signs were stable and oxygen saturation on air was 98%. On examination, there was subcutaneous crepitus in the neck and chest. Chest auscultation revealed bilateral decreased air entry. Chest X-ray was performed which showed pneumomediastinum and minimal pneumothorax (Figure 1). She was reviewed by the medical team and a diagnosis of Hamman's syndrome was made. She was managed conservatively and the symptoms slowly settled over the next two days. Subcutaneous emphysema continued to resolve and repeat chest X-ray after 72 hours revealed resolving pneumomediastinum. She was discharged home with no other postpartum problems. The six-week postnatal check showed complete resolution of subcutaneous emphysema.