Open AccessAsymptomatic pneumocephalus after head trauma: case report
Author(s) -
Özge Onur,
Hasan Demır,
Özlem Güneysel
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr.10.2008.1028
Subject(s) - pneumocephalus , medicine , glasgow coma scale , emergency department , head trauma , skull fracture , head injury , asymptomatic , surgery , neurological examination , radiology , computed tomography , psychiatry
A 66-year-old man was brought in to our emergency department (ED) with head trauma and was diagnosed with frontal located pneumocephalus based on a cranial computed tomography (CT) scan. At the time of arrival, he was alert and his Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) was 15. A neurological examination revealed no deficit and during follow-up in the ED his GCS did not deteriorate. Cranial CT scan demonstrated nasal fracture. On maxillofacial CT examination, we detected a nasal bone fracture, air loss and fluid was seen in the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses. In our case, pneumocephalus is assumed to be the result of ethmoid bone fracture. Despite the large amount of air in the subdural area, our patient had no symptoms. He was admitted to the intensive care unit for close monitoring and was discharged from hospital without neurological deficit on the fifth day of follow-up.