Successfully managed bilateral pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema after emergency open surgical tracheotomy

BACKGROUND: The most common complications we encountered in tracheotomies are hemorrhage, pneumothorax, and tube displacement. In this case report, we describe bilateral pneumothorax following an emergency tracheotomy. CASE PRESENTATION: A 57-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with laryngeal carcinoma, was developed sudden respiratory distress in the ear nose throat (ENT) ward before surgery. The patient was taken to the operating room for emergency tracheotomy. After surgery, at the 5th minute of the mechanical ventilator follow-up in ICU, she developed subcutaneous emphysema on her eyes, face, neck, and chest. She was taken to re-operation. On the postoperative follow-up, bilateral pneumothorax was detected on chest X-ray and bilateral thorax tube was applied by thoracic surgeon. She was externed to ENT ward on the 3rd postoperative day. The left thorax tube was removed on the 2nd and right thorax tube was removed on the 6th postoperative day. CONCLUSION: Here, we presented a successfully managed bilateral pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema after emergency open surgical tracheotomy. If persistence reduction of SPO(2) levels after tracheotomy, pneumothorax should be kept in the mind.