A Case of Delayed Airway Stenosis Due to Retropharyngeal Hematoma Caused by Low Energy Trauma

Airway narrowing due to trauma-induced retropharyngeal hematoma is rare. However, it is dangerous to overlook this lesion because it can lead to airway obstruction and even death. In this article, we report a case of a patient who developed pharyngeal pain and dysphagia two days after bruising on the forehead due to a fall and required intubation management. A 52-year-old man fell while walking and bruised his forehead two days before visiting our hospital. He had a sore throat and dysphagia two days after the injury and came to our hospital three days after the injury. The swelling was observed in the anterior neck, and stenotic sounds were heard in the upper airway. Cervical CT and MRI of the cervical spine showed extensive hyperabsorption areas in the ventral side of the cervical spine that appeared to be hematomas. No fracture of the cervical spine was observed. The patient has been placed on emergency tracheal intubation due to concerns about airway stenosis caused by the hematoma. Although pneumonia was observed during treatment, it resolved with antimicrobial therapy, and the hematoma tended to shrink, so the patient was extubated on the 15th day of admission. However, the patient was intubated again on the 17th day of hospitalization due to poor oxygenation. A tracheostomy was performed on the 26th day of hospitalization due to suspected narrowing of the upper airway caused by hematoma or sputum. On day 59 of hospitalization, the cannula was removed, and the patient was discharged home on the 68th day after hospitalization. Low-energy trauma tends to be underrecognized as producing anterior cervical hematomas that can lead to fatal airway narrowing. Care should be taken because fatal anterior cervical hematomas are not often part of the differential diagnosis due to their often delayed onset. More caution is needed if an underlying disease may cause coagulation abnormalities.