Table 3. Study evaluation and clinical course (n=64).
| Variables | Groups, n (%) |
P value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild, n=36 | Moderate, n=22 | Severe, n=6 | Total, n=64 | ||
| Radiologic evaluation | |||||
| Chest X-ray | 36 (100.0) | 22 (100.0) | 6 (100.0) | 64 (100.0) | N/A |
| Neck film | 23 (63.9) | 11 (50.0) | 3 (50.0) | 37 (57.8) | 0.597 |
| Chest CT | 28 (77.8) | 20 (90.9) | 6 (100.0) | 54 (84.4) | 0.332 |
| Neck CT | 4 (11.1) | 2 (9.1) | 1 (16.7) | 7 (10.9) | 0.714 |
| Both | 3 (8.3) | 1 (4.5) | 1 (16.7) | 5 (7.8) | 0.487 |
| Aero-digestive organ study | |||||
| Esophagography | 3 (8.3) | 6 (27.3) | 1 (16.7) | 10 (15.6) | 0.143 |
| Endoscopy | 1 (2.8) | 3 (13.6) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (6.3) | 0.300 |
| Bronchoscopy | 1 (2.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (1.6) | 1.000 |
| Treatment modality | |||||
| Initial nothing by mouth | 22 (61.1) | 13 (59.1) | 4 (66.7) | 39 (60.9) | 1 |
| Oxygen inhalation | 36 (100.0) | 22 (100.0) | 6 (100.0) | 64 (100.0) | N/A |
| Empirical antibiotics | 31 (86.1) | 21 (95.5) | 5 (83.3) | 57 (89.1) | 0.392 |
| Pain medication | 27 (75.0) | 15 (68.2) | 5 (83.3) | 47 (73.4) | 0.768 |
| Clinical course | |||||
| Time to visit, mean ± SD (hours) | 12.06±14.15 | 12.68±21.36 | 30.67±25.97 | 14.02±18.60 | 0.068 |
| Hospital days, mean ± SD | 4.11±1.55 | 5.23±2.00 | 5.17±1.33 | 4.59±1.76 | 0.043 |
| Recurrence | 0 (0.0) | 1 (4.5) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (1.6) | 0.438 |
| Spontaneous pneumothorax | 2 (5.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (3.1) | 0.607 |
Categorical variables are reported as frequencies (%), and continuous variables are reported as mean ± SD. Chi-square test or Fischer’s exact test was used for categorical variables. N/A, not applicable; CT, computed tomography; SD, standard deviation.