An elderly woman with a chronic decubitus sacral ulcer presented to the emergency department with sepsis. A computed tomography of her abdomen showed diffuse gas extending throughout the thoracolumbar spinal canal. Pneumorrhachis is a rare radiographic finding defined as gas within the spinal canal. There are many causes of pneumorrhachis ranging from trauma to infection. In this case the pneum...

Pneumomediastinum, the presence of free air within the mediastinal cavity, is sometimes accompanied by subcutaneous emphysema and pneumorrhachis (air within the spinal canal). We report the case of a 28-year-old man with previously undiagnosed HIV who was diagnosed with extensive pneumomediastinum, pneumorrhachis, and subcutaneous emphysema secondary to Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia after pre...

We present two cases of traumatic pneumorrhachis that is defined as air within the spinal canal. It is also known as pneumosaccus, intraspinal pneumocele, aerorachia, pneumomyelogram, or simply intraspinal air. Only few cases have been reported in the literature, and a review of the literature has exposed only 35 cases in epidural type and 18 cases in subarachnoid type. (J Kor Neurotraumatol So...

1. Santa Casa de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, MG, Brazil. 2. Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM), Uberaba, MG, Brazil. Mailing address: Dr. Dimitrius Nikolaos Jaconi Stamoulis. Departamento de Radiologia e Diagnóstico por Imagem – UFTM. Avenida Getúlio Guaritá, 130, Nossa Senhora da Abadia. Uberaba, MG, Brazil, 38025-250. E-mail: dimitriusss@hotmail. com. Known triggers include ac...

Air may be visualized in the spinal epidural space in a variety of settings. Pathologic collections of air from herniated vacuum disk and epidural abscess have been described [1, 2]. Iatrogenic air may result from epidural anesthesia or unsuccessful lumbar puncture. Intraspinal air (pneumorrhachis) after trauma has been considered a rare occurrence; only three cases have been reported in the li...

Subarachnoid pleural fistula (SPF) is an extremely rare complication that occurs after dural space and vertebral columns injuries. SPF is divided into two diagnoses based on the absence or presence of pneumocephalus and pneumorrachis. While pneumocephalus is defined as the presence of air the cranial cavity, if there is air in the spinal canal, this is defined as pneumorrhachis. In general, the...