title: Subcutaneous emphysema: an unusual presentation of foreign body in the airway.
abstract: Six children with a foreign body in the airway presented with progressive subcutaneous emphysema as a clinical feature. The aim of this report is to highlight this unusual clinical presentation of foreign body in the tracheobronchial tree. A peculiar arrangement of fascial planes in the neck, chest, and abdomen and an excessive pressure gradient at the alveolar level, facilitates extraalveolar migration of air in the subcutaneous tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric surgery, St John's Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saoji
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramchandra
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: D'Cruz
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012137:Respiratory System; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013352:Subcutaneous Emphysema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology