Subcutaneous Emphysema in Patients With COVID-19 Infection: A Report of Three Cases

Subcutaneous emphysema is a rare complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia that should prompt immediate attention to find its cause. Herein, we describe three patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia who were admitted to the ICU and developed subcutaneous emphysema and one with a concomitant pneumothorax. Three patients with diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia admitted to the ICU developed subcutaneous emphysema during the hospital admission. One of them who had concomitant pneumothorax required thoracostomy tube for treatment and the other two were monitored clinically without additional interventions. Two patients died during the first two to three weeks of their hospital course. One patient survived and was discharged after 63 days in the hospital. Subcutaneous emphysema is considered a non-life-threatening condition and is usually self-limited requiring supportive treatment in mild cases. For such cases, observation is appropriate. Patients with newly discovered SE life-threatening pathology, such as pneumothorax, esophageal rupture, and necrotizing infections, should be investigated depending on the clinical setting. This is one of the first paper that shows the development of subcutaneous emphysema in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. This may represent a rare complication of the infection as well as may be attributable to other factors such as increased cough and mechanical ventilation. There is a need for studies on the clinical characteristics of a disease with still many unknown features and a wide clinical spectrum that is still being defined.