The authors present a case report of a patient with a lingual hematoma treated in the otolaryngology department of portuguese institute of oncology, lisbon, followed by a brief literature review.

A case of a 43 years old female with a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia since 2007, submitted to allograft bone marrow transplantation in 2008 at the Portuguese Oncology Institute, Lisbon. With diagnosis of recurrence since May 2011, she was hospitalized in october 2011, due to a lower gastrointestinal bleeding in the context of a cytomegalovirus colitis associated with pancytopenia. During hospitalization, the patient experienced a tonicclonic seizure. less than 12 hours after this episode, the patient developed a massive lingual hematoma. Despite exuberant macroglossia and tongue proptosis, the patient showed no signs of active bleeding or severe dyspnea and was submitted to conservative medical treatment.

Lingual hematoma has many causes, being trauma and hemorrhagic dyscrasias among the most frequent. The first therapeutic objective should be evaluated and gua ranted upper airway patency. once the airway is secured, hemorrhage and hematoma should be treated according to its etiology. This can be achieved with conservative medical therapy, intervention radiology or surgery.

Lingual hematoma is as rare as potentially fatal. prompt recognition and management is critical for a favorable outcome.

Costa E, Estibeiro H, Magalhães M. Lingual Hematoma: A Rare Cause of Upper Airway Obstruction. Int J Head Neck Surg 2015;6(1):41-44.