Pneumothorax Research Paper

A pneumothorax is the development of trapped air in the thoracic cavity that can lead to the collapse of one, or both lungs if left untreated. There are two main types of pneumothorax, traumatic pneumothorax, and spontaneous pneumothorax, with spontaneous pneumothorax being broken down into primary pneumothorax and secondary pneumothorax. There are several risk factors and causes of a pneumothorax. It is important to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of a pneumothorax and how to treat them.
The word “pneumothorax” can be broken down into the Latin root words “pneumo,” meaning air or lung, and “thorax,” meaning chest or trunk, and by braking the word down into its two parts we can deduce that a pneumothorax involves air in the chest cavity. According to Terry Des Jardins (2013), a pneumothorax is “a collection of air or gas in the pleural space, causing the lung to collapse” (p. 621). When a pneumothorax occurs and air becomes trapped in the plural lining of the lung it reduces the amount of space available for the lung to inflate during inspiration. As the pneumothorax develops it decreases the available space in the thoracic cavity the lung’s ability to expand decreases
In a primary spontaneous pneumothorax caused by the bursting of a small bleb the situation may resolve itself and the patient may only need careful monitoring and the delivery of supplemental Oxygen therapy. In the event of a larger pneumothorax a needle is inserted into the chest cavity to remove the trapped air that has developed, alleviate the buildup of pressure in the thorax, and allowing room for the lung to re-inflate. Chest tubes can be placed and attached to a suction device to remove the accumulated air, and if that is not effective enough surgery (Mayo Clinic 2014) may be needed to fix the cause of the