Delayed Presentation of Tracheal Injury After Thyroidectomy—a Case Report

Complications of thyroidectomy are common and few of these could be life threatening. Although rare, the delayed tracheal rupture is one such complication and needs to be managed promptly. A male patient presented with neck swelling and on evaluation diagnosed to have papillary carcinoma thyroid T4a N1b M0. Patient underwent total thyroidectomy and neck dissection. On post-operative day 5, he developed subcutaneous emphysema. The subcutaneous emphysema was managed non-surgically with close observation and took 6 days to resolve completely. Management algorithm has been formulated after literature review. Delayed subcutaneous emphysema following thyroidectomy can be managed non-surgically in selected cases with mild emphysema and non-progressive course.