Pneumococcal necrotizing pneumonia can lead to severe barotrauma resulting from air
passage through a bronchopleural fistula. Here we present a case of a 15-month old
infant who presented with a life-threatening tension pneumothorax that developed ten
days after discharge from hospital after 14 days treatment with intravenous cefotaxime
for pneumococcal empyema. The patient recovered full after urgent surgical decompression,
and the fistula closed without further surgical intervention.
Keywords
Necrotizing pneumonia - pneumothorax -
Streptococcus pneumoniae
