title: Pneumocephalus in a patient with multiple stab wounds.
abstract: Pneumocephalus is a complication of trauma to the chest and many iatrogenic interventions. It may arise due to systemic air embolism or retrograde cerebral venous air embolism which is an extremely rare complication. We report a 26-years-old female patient who presented to the Emergency Department suffering of multiple stab wounds. She was in a state of shock and after first aid and evaluation she was operated successfully. In the early postoperative period generalized tonic clonic convulsions were observed following cardiopulmonary resuscitation due to sudden cardiovascular collapse. Brain computerized tomography demonstrated free air in intracranial and extracranial venous structures. Pneumocephalus was diagnosed which may be due to a wide spectrum of etiologies including thorax or spinal stab wounds, tube thoracostomy, cardiopulmonary resuscitation or even central venous catheterization. Unfortunately, the patient ended up with brain death despite all effort. In conclusion, we recommend physicians to be aware of this catastrophic complication while taking care of patients with stab wounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Savran
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Volkan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Karacam
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Basak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bayram
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nuri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karabay
keywords: Air embolism; Intracranial gas; Pneumocephalus; Stab wounds