Citation

Chan EK, Meiteles LZ. Ear Nose Throat J. 2007; 86(7): 391-3, 405.

Affiliation

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York City, NY 10003, USA. echan@nyee.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Medquests Communications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

17702317

Abstract

Tension pneumocephalus occurs when a continuous flow of air accumulates in the intracranial cavity and produces a mass effect on the brain. We describe a case in which tension pneumocephalus was caused by the performance of continuous lumbar CSF drainage in a middle-aged man who had experienced a temporal bone fracture. Continuous lumbar CSF drainage is commonly performed in patients with temporal bone or basilar skull fractures to treat concomitant post-traumatic CSF rhinorrhea, CSF otorrhea, and/or hydrocephalus. However; to the best of our knowledge, there has been no previously reported case of tension pneumocephalus occurring as a complication of this procedure in a patient with a temporal bone fracture.

Language: en