Condition Lookup
Sub-Category:
Pleural Disorders
Number of Conditions: 1
Pneumothorax (spontaneous or tension)
Specialty: Emergency and Urgent Care
Category: Respiratory Emergencies
Sub-category: Pleural Disorders
Symptoms:
sudden chest pain; shortness of breath; rapid heart rate; cyanosis; hypotension (in tension pneumothorax); tracheal deviation (in tension pneumothorax); decreased breath sounds on the affected side
Root Cause:
Air enters the pleural space, causing lung collapse. Tension pneumothorax involves increasing pressure, compressing mediastinal structures, and impairing venous return.
How it's Diagnosed: videos
Clinical presentation (tracheal deviation, hypotension, and decreased breath sounds in tension pneumothorax), chest X-ray (collapsed lung and air in pleural space), and ultrasound (rapid bedside diagnosis).
Treatment:
Needle decompression followed by chest tube placement for tension pneumothorax; observation or chest tube placement for spontaneous pneumothorax depending on size and symptoms.
Medications:
Analgesics like morphine or acetaminophen (pain relief) and sedatives if procedural interventions are needed.
Prevalence:
How common the health condition is within a specific population.
Spontaneous pneumothorax affects approximately 7-28 per 100,000 people annually; tension pneumothorax is less common but life-threatening.
Risk Factors:
Factors or behaviors that increase the likelihood of developing the condition.
Smoking, tall and thin body type, trauma, underlying lung diseases (COPD, cystic fibrosis), and mechanical ventilation.
Prognosis:
The expected outcome or course of the condition over time.
With timely intervention, prognosis is excellent; untreated tension pneumothorax is rapidly fatal.
Complications:
Additional problems or conditions that may arise as a result of the original condition.
Recurrent pneumothorax, infection, pleural adhesions, and respiratory failure in severe cases.