High pressure in a man’s airway tore part of his windpipe after he stopped sneezing by blocking his nose.
- In Scotland, a man presented to the emergency room after experiencing neck pain following a sneeze that he blocked by blocking his nose.
- Examinations revealed that he had a tracheal tear.
- His trachea was perforated due to a rapid build-up of pressure in the airways, which can increase up to 20 times if a person holds back a sneeze.
A case “which has never been reported before.” In Scotland, more precisely at Ninewells Hospital at the University of Dundee, doctors reported tracheal perforation following a sneeze. In a study, published in the journal BMJ Case Reports, they recalled that a tear in the trachea was a rare and potentially fatal condition. Nowadays, “Only a few cases of spontaneous tracheal perforations have been reported. Most commonly, they are caused by iatrogenic or traumatic injuries following thyroidectomy, traumatic intubation, percutaneous tracheostomy procedure, esophageal stent insertion, esophageal corrosive injury and sharp and blunt trauma”, clarified the practitioners.
Tracheal perforation: he felt neck pain after blocking his sneeze
Thus, this is the first time that a tear in the trachea has occurred after a sneeze. According to the report, the affected patient is a man in his thirties, who had a history of allergic rhinitis. While driving his car and wearing his seatbelt, he felt severe pain in his neck immediately after holding back from sneezing by covering his nose and closing his mouth. When he presented to the emergency room, he indicated that he did not suffer from dyspnea (a feeling of difficulty breathing), dysphonia (a change in voice) or dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).
Examinations showed that her neck was swollen, with mild crackles on palpation and reduced range of motion of the neck. There were no abnormal findings in the pharynx or larynx during visualization. “Lateral soft tissue x-ray of the neck revealed surgical emphysema. Immediately following the x-ray, CT scan of the neck and chest revealed a 2mm by 2mm by 5mm tracheal tear between the third and fourth thoracic vertebrae,” can we read in the study.
When holding back from sneezing, the pressure in the airways “can increase up to 20 times”
According to medical professionals, the 30-year-old’s windpipe was perforated due to a rapid build-up of pressure in the windpipe when sneezing with a pinched nose and closed mouth. “Normally, the pressure in the upper respiratory tract during sneezing is 1-2 kPa. However, if the mouth and nose are closed, the pressure can increase up to 20 times,” they specified.
Faced with these results, doctors prescribed paracetamol and codeine to relieve the pain. For allergic rhinitis and nasal congestion, they gave him cetirizine, fluticasone propionate and xylometazoline hydrochloride drops. The patient neither needed antibiotics nor had surgery because he “was doing well and had normal heart and respiratory rates, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and body temperature.” However, after his admission to the hospital, he was closely monitored for 48 hours.
The man was then able to return home. Practitioners prescribed painkillers and long-term treatment for allergic rhinitis. The 30-year-old was also recommended not to do sports for two weeks and to stop holding back sneezing.. “A follow-up CT scan of the neck and chest was performed five weeks later, revealing complete resorption of the surgical emphysema without tracheal tear or tracheal abnormality.”