Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is the presence of air in the pleural cavity. The air can come either from outside via a damaged chest wall, but more usually comes from the lung through rupture of its surface. This can follow trauma (from a cracked rib, for example) or it may arise spontaneously either in association with underlying disease such as asthma, or because there is a weakness in the lung surface - this classically occurs in young fit men who are thin. It may cause severe pain and shortness of breath, but if it is small there may be no symptoms.
A tension pneumothorax occurs when the leak from the damaged lung surface persists, so that as we breathe the pneumothorax gets bigger. This gradually compresses the lung and unless it is drained it is life threatening.
|
