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Primary Surgery Vol.2 – Trauma |  |
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Primary Surgery Vol.2 – Trauma | |
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A little air in a patient’s pleural cavity causes no symptoms. It is slowly absorbed and needs no treatment. Larger pneumothoraces may cause his lung to collapse permanently, so you must drain them. If air enters through a valve–like injury, the pressure in his pleural cavity rises, displaces his mediastinum, and impairs both his respiration and his circulation. If he has dyspnoea, treatment is urgent, and life–saving. Mediastinal shift makes the diagnosis easy—provided you remember to look for it!
You can easily miss pneumothoraces if a patient has multiple injuries, and they can be fatal if you try to anaesthetize him without diagnosing them. So if there is any doubt, X–ray him first.
A pneumothorax can occasionally occur spontaneously, and complicate tuberculosis.
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Primary Surgery Vol.2 – Trauma | |
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