When back pain masks a pneumothorax: Atypical presentation in a healthy young nonsmoker male

Abstract

Spontaneous pneumothorax usually presents with sudden chest pain and dyspnea as cardinal symptoms, but its diagnosis may be challenging with atypical presentation. We describe here the case of an unusual presentation of spontaneous pneumothorax in a 20-year-old male nonsmoker with no past medical history, presenting to the emergency department with intense back pain accompanied by vomiting. The diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax should be entertained by the clinicians, even in atypical presentations, for timely management.

Keywords

• Spontaneous pneumothorax
• Atypical presentation
• Back pain
• Tension pneumothorax
• Nonsmoker