Negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) is defined as fluid transudation into the pulmonary interstitium which occurs as a result of elevated negative intrathoracic pressure caused by the upper respiratory tract obstruction and strong inspiratory effort. NPPE is usually seen during emergence from general anesthesia in the early post-operative period. The occurrences of pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum are rare, but considered to be potentially life-threatening in patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery under general anesthesia. The early detection and treatment is vital to patient outcome. We report the case of a 25-year old male who developed massive bilateral pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum after functional endoscopic sinus surgery under general anesthesia.

Keywords: Pneumomediastinum, Pneumothorax, Negative pressure pulmonary edema, Endoscopic sinus surgery

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Aswani B

Post Graduate Student, Department of Anaesthesiology, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute, Chennai, India