{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T17:47:03Z","timestamp":1777312023253,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, several infected patients have suffered from unusual and severe complications. Among these rare complications, pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum have attracted clinical attention. Such complications might be challenging to diagnose immediately because of the atypical presentation in some cases. Accurate diagnosis is essential to ensure effective treatment. Here, we present the case of a 62-year-old male who presented with symptoms of COVID-19 acute respiratory distress. There was diffuse subcutaneous emphysema in the face, neck, shoulder, and chest wall on clinical examination. The patient was started on oxygenation via a non-rebreather mask. On further evaluation, his chest X-ray revealed bilateral peripheral opacities in the lung fields, bilateral pneumothorax, and subcutaneous emphysema, after which intercostal drainage tubes were inserted. The patient's oxygen saturation was not satisfactory, and he was switched to a high-flow nasal cannula. However, his condition deteriorated, and he was put on mechanical ventilation and inotropic support. Despite our best efforts, the patient succumbed to the disease. We want to emphasize the importance of this adverse event despite his nonsmoking history and the exclusion of positive pressure ventilation. Although benign, early diagnosis of this condition is vital, as the condition could lead to worse morbidity if left unrecognized.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.5339\/qmj.2022.19","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,30]],"date-time":"2022-06-30T04:30:32Z","timestamp":1656563432000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Spontaneous bilateral pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum independent of mechanical ventilation as complications of COVID-19 pneumonia: A case report"],"prefix":"10.5339","volume":"2022","author":[{"given":"Matthew","family":"Antony Manoj","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India E-mail: basavaprabhu.a@manipal.edu"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Basavaprabhu","family":"Achappa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nikhil","family":"Victor Dsouza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shruti","family":"Sundar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vinay","family":"BS","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiodiagnosis, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"3277","reference":[{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0001","series-title":"J Med Virol","first-page":"401\u2013402","article-title":"Outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China: the mystery and the miracle","volume":"92","year":"2020;"},{"key":"CIT0002","article-title":"WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [Online]","year":"2022 January 18;"},{"issue":"(Suppl 1):","key":"CIT0003","series-title":"J Thorac Dis","first-page":"S44\u2013S49","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum","volume":"7","year":"2015;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0004","series-title":"Tuberc Respir Dis","first-page":"99\u2013104","article-title":"Pneumothorax","volume":"76","year":"2014;"},{"issue":"(117):","key":"CIT0005","series-title":"Eur Respir Rev","first-page":"217\u2013219","article-title":"Spontaneous pneumothorax: epidemiology, pathophysiology and cause","volume":"19","year":"2010;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0006","series-title":"Chest","first-page":"1140\u20131145","article-title":"The prevalence of blebs and bullae among young healthy adults: a thoracoscopic evaluation","volume":"132","year":"2007;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0007","series-title":"Clin Med (Lond)","first-page":"e91\u2013e92","article-title":"COVID-19-associated pneumomediastinum","volume":"20","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0008","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"1170\u20131176","article-title":"Case report: pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum as uncommon complications of COVID-19 pneumonia-literature review","volume":"103","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(6):","key":"CIT0009","series-title":"Eur Respir J","first-page":"802\u2013804","article-title":"Spontaneous pneumomediastinum in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome","volume":"23","year":"2004;"},{"issue":"(5):","key":"CIT0010","series-title":"Heart Lung","first-page":"599\u2013608","article-title":"The incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of pneumothorax in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A systematic review","volume":"50","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0011","series-title":"ERJ Open Res","first-page":"00385\u20132020","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema in COVID-19: barotrauma or lung frailty?","volume":"6","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0012","series-title":"Eur J Cardio Thorac Surg","first-page":"646\u2013647","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum in COVID-19 patients: a case series of a rare complication","volume":"58","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(2):","key":"CIT0013","series-title":"Radiology","first-page":"E32\u2013E40","article-title":"Correlation of chest CT and RT-PCR testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: A report of 1014 cases","volume":"296","year":"2020;"},{"key":"CIT0014","series-title":"J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth","article-title":"Massive spontaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum as rare complications of COVID-19 pneumonia","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(10307):","key":"CIT0015","series-title":"Lancet","first-page":"1197\u20131199","article-title":"ECMO in COVID-19: do not blame the tool","volume":"398","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(5):","key":"CIT0016","series-title":"ASAIO J","first-page":"485\u2013495","article-title":"Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for COVID-19: updated 2021 guidelines from the extracorporeal life support organization","volume":"67","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(10):","key":"CIT0017","series-title":"J Thorac Dis","first-page":"1817\u20131824","article-title":"Clinical experience of spontaneous pneumomediastinum: diagnosis and treatment","volume":"7","year":"2015;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0001","series-title":"J Med Virol","first-page":"401\u2013402","article-title":"Outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China: the mystery and the miracle","volume":"92","year":"2020;"},{"key":"CIT0002","article-title":"WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [Online]","year":"2022 January 18;"},{"issue":"(Suppl 1):","key":"CIT0003","series-title":"J Thorac Dis","first-page":"S44\u2013S49","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum","volume":"7","year":"2015;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0004","series-title":"Tuberc Respir Dis","first-page":"99\u2013104","article-title":"Pneumothorax","volume":"76","year":"2014;"},{"issue":"(117):","key":"CIT0005","series-title":"Eur Respir Rev","first-page":"217\u2013219","article-title":"Spontaneous pneumothorax: epidemiology, pathophysiology and cause","volume":"19","year":"2010;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0006","series-title":"Chest","first-page":"1140\u20131145","article-title":"The prevalence of blebs and bullae among young healthy adults: a thoracoscopic evaluation","volume":"132","year":"2007;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0007","series-title":"Clin Med (Lond)","first-page":"e91\u2013e92","article-title":"COVID-19-associated pneumomediastinum","volume":"20","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0008","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"1170\u20131176","article-title":"Case report: pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum as uncommon complications of COVID-19 pneumonia-literature review","volume":"103","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(6):","key":"CIT0009","series-title":"Eur Respir J","first-page":"802\u2013804","article-title":"Spontaneous pneumomediastinum in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome","volume":"23","year":"2004;"},{"issue":"(5):","key":"CIT0010","series-title":"Heart Lung","first-page":"599\u2013608","article-title":"The incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of pneumothorax in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A systematic review","volume":"50","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(4):","key":"CIT0011","series-title":"ERJ Open Res","first-page":"00385\u20132020","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema in COVID-19: barotrauma or lung frailty?","volume":"6","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(3):","key":"CIT0012","series-title":"Eur J Cardio Thorac Surg","first-page":"646\u2013647","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum in COVID-19 patients: a case series of a rare complication","volume":"58","year":"2020;"},{"issue":"(2):","key":"CIT0013","series-title":"Radiology","first-page":"E32\u2013E40","article-title":"Correlation of chest CT and RT-PCR testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: A report of 1014 cases","volume":"296","year":"2020;"},{"key":"CIT0014","series-title":"J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth","article-title":"Massive spontaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum as rare complications of COVID-19 pneumonia","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(10307):","key":"CIT0015","series-title":"Lancet","first-page":"1197\u20131199","article-title":"ECMO in COVID-19: do not blame the tool","volume":"398","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(5):","key":"CIT0016","series-title":"ASAIO J","first-page":"485\u2013495","article-title":"Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for COVID-19: updated 2021 guidelines from the extracorporeal life support organization","volume":"67","year":"2021;"},{"issue":"(10):","key":"CIT0017","series-title":"J Thorac Dis","first-page":"1817\u20131824","article-title":"Clinical experience of spontaneous pneumomediastinum: diagnosis and treatment","volume":"7","year":"2015;"}],"container-title":["Qatar Medical Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/view\/journals\/qmj\/2022\/3\/article-19.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/downloadpdf\/journals\/qmj\/2022\/3\/article-19.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/downloadpdf\/journals\/qmj\/2022\/3\/article-19.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T17:10:35Z","timestamp":1777309835000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.qscience.com\/view\/journals\/qmj\/2022\/3\/article-19.xml"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,4]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5339\/qmj.2022.19","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-0426"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2227-0426","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,4]]}}}