BOF: 48
A 24-year-old male presents with sudden onset left sided
pleuritic chest pain and difficulty in breathing. On examination he is
distressed, tachypnoeic and has tracheal displacement to the right together with
a hyper-resonant percussion note on the left side with absent breath sounds on
the left. In this patient:
a)
The lung will spontaneously expand within one week
b)
Immediate insertion of an
intercostal drainage tube is required
c)
Aspiration of the
pneumothorax should be undertaken in the first instance
d)
Surgical pleurodesis will
be required
e)
Chemical pleurodesis will
be required
Answer:
c)
Treatment of a
complete pneumothorax would be initial aspiration. This is less painful, leads
to a shorter duration of admission, reduces the need for pleurectomy, there is
no increase in recurrence rate at one year.
