COVID-19 Pneumonia Complicated by Pneumomediastinum: A Case Report

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic that spread rapidly around the world, causing an enormous overload on the health systems of the different affected countries. Among the many different manifestations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, an uncommon complication is the development of pneumomediastinum. In the clinical case presented, the patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and due to severe refractory hypoxemia, she was submitted to therapy with non-invasive ventilation (NIV). After initial stabilization and improvement, there was unexpected clinical deterioration and pneumomediastinum was diagnosed. The purpose of this report is to highlight the importance of considering pneumomediastinum as a complication of COVID-19 pneumonia in cases subjected to non-invasive ventilation.