A pneumothorax occurs when air enters the pleural space. The underlying lung moves away from the chest wall and the pleural space becomes visible on the chest radiograph. (The pleural space is a potential space and is normally not visible on the radiograph).
Air enters the pleural space either through disruption of the visceral pleura or the parietal pleura.
There are numerous causes of a pneumothorax.
Spontaneous
Trauma
Iatrogenic (eg after line insertion)
Infection
Chronic lung disease
plus others
A small pneumothorax may be tolerated well by a patient and require no treatment. A large pneumothorax will usually require treatment. This often involves the insertion of a drain or catheter into pleural space to remove the air from the space. The lung can then re-expand and occupy the whole of the hemithorax and the pleural space returns to a 'potential' space.
|
