Spontaneous Pneumothorax and Pneumomediastinum in Covid-19 Pneumonia Patients

Abstract

Background: The term spontaneous pneumothorax(PNX) refers to the presence of air in the pleural space that is not caused by trauma or other obvious precipitating factor (trauma or iatrogenic during a procedure). To this date, there are only rare mentions of pneumothorax as a complication of COVID-19 viral pneumonia including few case reports. Objective: to describe the clinical characteristics of patients with these pathologies, effect of chest drain placement and consider whether development of these can be used as a marker of poor prognosis. Materials and methods: A Retrospective observational study was conducted SDSTRC and RGICD, Bengaluru. All adult patients who present to the our hospital with RTPCR positive for Covid 19. Duration of study was March 2020 to October 2021. We included Patients Aged 18> years both male and female with Symptoms suggestive of Covid 19 & RTPCR positive for SARS COV 2. Results: During the study period, we had admitted and treated 1500 COVID-19 pneumonia patients, all of these patients were nasopharyngeal swab positive for COVID-19. Three patients developed a pneumothorax , two patient developed pneumomediastinum and one patient developed subcutaneous emphysema ; the incidence of was 0.2%. , 0.13% and 0.06% respectively. Conclusion: Spontaneous pneumothorax and pneumomediastnum is a rare complication of COVID-19 viral pneumonia. It may occur at any time during the course of the disease. Pleural cavity decompression may help prevent development of life-threatening tension. Clinicians should be vigilant about the diagnosis and treatment of this complication.