Intraventricular Tension Pneumocephalus After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Removal of an External Ventricular Drain.

Abstract

Pneumocephalus is defined as an accumulation of air or gas in the intracranial space. It is a common complication after skull surgery or craniofacial trauma, sometimes also caused by gas-producing organisms in the context of an infection, and reported with cerebrospinal fluid draining procedures. Here we report a case of a large intraventricular tension pneumocephalus after removal of an external ventricular drain in a patient with subarachnoid hemorrhage. The acute management included therapy with normobaric oxygen. Despite the large volume of trapped air and its diffuse distribution inside the skull and spine, therapy with 100% normobaric oxygen appears to be safe and efficient for a rapid improvement of the patient's symptoms and the neuroradiological imaging.