CT recognition of spinal epidural air after chest tube placement.

Intraspinal air has been described in patients undergoing diagnostic lumbar puncture and epidural analgesia, as a manifestation of degenerative disk disease, and after less common mechanisms, such as blunt trauma [1], strenuous exercise [2], and pelvic trauma [3]. We report a case of spinal epidural emphysema incidentally noted on CT after placement of a thoracostomy tube.