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Pneumothorax

Pneumothorax · Pneumotorax

What it is

Air leaks into the pleural space and the lung collapses.

Symptoms & signs

  • Sudden one-sided chest pain
  • breathlessness
  • absent breath sounds
  • tension type: collapse and deviated trachea

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Sudden sharp chest pain with breathlessness
  • call 112 / 911 now Breathing getting harder fast, with a racing heart or blue lips
  • see a doctor soon Mild one-sided chest pain or breathlessness that doesn't go away

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Observation or aspiration if small
  • chest drain
  • needle decompression for tension
  • pleurodesis for recurrence

Natural & lifestyle

  • Stop smoking
  • avoid flying and diving until healed

Emerging & experimental

  • Ambulatory pleural devices
  • thoracoscopic bleb stapling

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Breathing high-flow oxygen — small studies show the air is absorbed faster early / small studies
  • Rest, slow breathing and avoiding straining — common advice; not tested anecdotal / traditional
  • Autologous blood patch for a persistent leak — small studies early / small studies

ICD codes