How can you collapse a lung

The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health. Collapsed Lung.

See, Play and Learn No links available. Research Clinical Trials Journal Articles. Resources Reference Desk Find an Expert. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Collapsed and normal lung Open pop-up dialog box Close.

Collapsed and normal lung In a collapsed lung, air from the lung leaks into the chest cavity. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Ferri FF. Pneumothorax, spontaneous. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Elsevier; Accessed Feb. Weinberger SE, et al.

Pleural disease. In: Principles of Pulmonary Medicine. Tintinalli JE, et al. McGraw-Hill; Then he or she will make 2 or 3 small cuts between the ribs in your chest.

He or she will put long, thin tools in these openings and into the space where the air collected. One of the tools has a camera on the end, which sends pictures to a TV screen. The doctor can look at the image on the screen to do the surgery. If you need surgery to treat your condition, your doctor might do another procedure at the same time. These two procedures can help prevent a future pneumothorax. After surgery you will have a chest tube placed.

It will stay in for several days to a week, depending on your healing process. To ensure we placed your tube in the most optimal location for your lung, we will give you x-rays and an examination. You will need to stay in the hospital while the chest tube is in place. After removal of you chest tube and before you go home, your doctor will confirm that your lung has not re-collapsed.

We give you instructions on breathing exercises, called incentive spirometry. These help expand your lungs and dialate your air sacs.

This will help prevent pneumonia. If you smoke, you should stop smoking. Smoking can increase your chance of getting pneumothorax. It occurs when air enters the space around your lungs the pleural space. This can happen when an open injury in your lung tissue causes air to leak into the pleural space. The resulting increased pressure on the outside of your lung causes it to collapse. Traumatic pneumothorax results from an injury, like a blow to the chest. Nontraumatic pneumothorax can happen if you have lung disease, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD , but it can also happen for no apparent reason in people without lung disease.

The long-term impact of pneumothorax can vary. If only a small amount of air is trapped in the pleural space, there may be no further complications. If the volume of air is larger or it affects the heart, it can be life-threatening. If pneumothorax results from trauma, the symptoms often appear at the time of the injury or shortly after.

Symptoms of spontaneous pneumothorax might appear when a person is at rest. A sudden attack of chest pain is often the first symptom. There are different ways of categorizing pneumothorax, according to their causes or their impact. One way of differentiating them is as follows :. Traumatic pneumothorax occurs after some type of trauma or injury has happened to the chest or lung wall.

It can be a minor or significant injury. The trauma can damage chest structures and cause air to leak into the pleural space. Quick treatment of pneumothorax due to chest trauma is critical as it can lead to fatal complications like cardiac arrest , respiratory failure , shock , and death.

Tension pneumothorax is not a classification of pneumothorax but a term that reflects the severity of pneumothorax. You may experience it if you have:. The risk factors are different for a traumatic and spontaneous pneumothorax.