A Case of Asymptomatic Gastric Emphysema Incidentally found by Initial Computed Tomography for the Evaluation of Trauma

Background: The presence of air within the wall of the stomach is called gastric pneumatosis or gastric emphysema (GE). However, GE is non-life-threatening and can be caused by a variety of iatrogenic and non-iatrogenic events.

Case presentation: A 19-year-old female was seriously injured when the car that she was driving in overturned while in the passenger seat while wearing a seat belt. She complained of neck pain. On arrival, her vital signs were stable with clear consciousness. A physical examination revealed isolated neck tenderness. The results of a biochemical analysis of the patient’s blood were within normal limits. A traumatic pan scan by computed tomography (CT) showed air in the stomach wall. She was initially diagnosed with neck sprain and asymptomatic GE. On the second day, she began to complain of abdominal pain and nausea. After the complete recovery of her appetite and normal dietary intake, she was discharged on foot on the fifth hospital day.

Conclusion: With the recent increased use of CT for diagnosing trauma and the ease of detecting abnormal gas distribution in the internal organs by CT, the number of cases of the incidental diagnosis of GE, as in the present case, is expected to increase in the future.

Keywords: gastric emphysema, pneumothorax, CT.