Iatrogenic pneumothorax after breast reduction surgery caused by local anesthesia infiltration - a case report

We present a case of a 44-year-old woman, who underwent bilateral breast reduction mammoplasty and suffered a unilateral pneumothorax that was detected postoperatively. Infiltration of a local anesthetic was considered the cause of the pneumothorax. We recommend a more tangential direction of needle placement when infiltrating a local anesthetic.

Automated summary

This article presents a case of a 44-year-old woman who developed a unilateral pneumothorax after undergoing bilateral breast reduction mammoplasty, possibly caused by infiltration of a local anesthetic. The authors recommend a change in the direction of needle placement during local anesthetic infiltration to prevent pneumothorax.