Case Report


Atypical presentation of a large pneumothorax in a young male: A case report

,  ,  ,  ,  

1 Security Forces Hospital Program, Emergency Department, Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2 Emergency Department, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Address correspondence to:

Yahia Yaseen Akeely

MD, Security Forces Hospital Program, Emergency Department, Riyadh City 11481, P.O. Box 3643,

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Message to Corresponding Author


Article ID: 100110Z06YK2022

doi: 10.5348/100110Z06YA2022CR

Access full text article on other devices

Access PDF of article on other devices

How to cite this article

Akeely YY, Alenezy AS, Al Marzouqi SM, Bokhari N, Yousef M. Atypical presentation of a large pneumothorax in a young male: A case report. Case Rep Int 2022;11(2):11–15.

ABSTRACT


Introduction: Pneumothorax is a potentially dangerous condition that, if not properly recognized and treated, can have fatal consequences. Chest discomfort or difficulty breathing is common presenting symptoms. We present an atypical presentation for pneumothorax.

Case Report: A 26-year-old male patient presented to the emergency department (ED) with complaints of pain in the right iliac fossa with localized rebound tenderness. The treating physician ordered a computed tomography (CT) abdomen to assess for acute appendicitis. From the abdominal CT scan, the radiologist reported a significant right-sided pneumothorax. The patient was treated with a chest thoracostomy and had an unremarkable recovery.

Conclusion: All alternative diagnoses are considered in light of the patient’s complaint and clinical presentation. This case reminds physicians of possible atypical clinical presentations of common and serious diseases.

Keywords: Appendicitis, Missed diagnosis, Pneumothorax, Referred pain

SUPPORTING INFORMATION


Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Gary Vilke for editing the manuscript.

Author Contributions

Yahia Yaseen Akeely - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published

Abdelwahed Syyar Alenezy - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published

Sultan Mohammed Al Marzouqi - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published

Nader Bokhari - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published

Mohammad Yousef - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published

Guaranter of Submission

The corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.

Source of Support

None

Consent Statement

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Conflict of Interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Copyright

© 2022 Yahia Yaseen Akeely et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.