Pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema in status asthmaticus, requiring surgical decompression.

Leakage of air into the interstitial tissues of the lungs of sufficient degree to produce pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema is an uncommon and potentially fatal complication of bronchial asthma in childhood. Another possibly fatal complication of similar causation is tension pneumothorax. It is possible that interstitial emphysema occurs more frequently in severe asthma and allied states than our usual methods of diagnosis allow us to discover, producing additional interference with ventilation by distending and splinting the area of lung involved. This case report and discussion of some relevant literature may serve to illustrate some of these points.