Gastric Emphysema in a Diabetic Patient Presenting as Chest Pain-A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Gastric emphysema (GE) is a rare radiological finding; Only 41 cases have been reported in literature between 1889-2003. During our review we found 22 cases that are reported in the last decade. The difficulty to differentiate GE from Emphysematous gastritis -which entails a more malignant course, poses a challenge to the clinicians in management. To our knowledge this is the first case of gastric emphysema presenting with chest pain and vomiting.We present a case of a diabetic woman whom presented with chest pain found vomiting and admitted initially as a cardiac case. Later on her admission she was found to have gastric emphysema. She was treated conservatively and had a full recovery.