CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Gastroenterology
Pneumomediastinum by acute gastric dilation after binge-eating: a case report and literature review
Xin Lu 1
Shigong Guo 2
Huadong Zhu 1
Yi Li 1
1. Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
2. Southmead Hospital, Bristol, United Kingdom
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract
Acute gastric dilation (AGD) is a rare but critical medical condition characterized by a rapid and massive expansion of the stomach. While AGD secondary to binge-eating has been documented in literature, cases involving rapid consumption of carbonated beverages leading to acute gastric distention with subsequent pneumomediastinum are rarely reported. We present a case of a 17-year-old male who developed AGD following competitive ingestion of hamburgers and carbonated beverages, subsequently complicated by subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema. Despite immediate gastric decompression via a nasogastric tube, the patient developed hemodynamic instability and oliguria. An emergency exploratory laparotomy was performed, during which a total of 3.6 liters of gastric contents were aspirated. The patient recuperated gradually under supportive care. This case highlights the necessity of early gastric decompression in binge-eating patients with significant carbonated beverage consumption who develop abdominal symptoms. The onset of hemodynamic instability or oliguria mandates urgent surgical intervention.
Summary
Keywords
Binge-eating, Emergency Medicine, Gastric dilation, Gastroenterology, Pneumomediastinum
Received
05 October 2025
Accepted
04 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Lu, Guo, Zhu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Yi Li
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.