Pneumothorax Research Paper

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A pneumothorax is a condition in which air gets trapped between the lungs and the chest wall. This pressure causes the lung to collapse inward onto itself. As member of both the Army National Guard and Army ROTC, I am very interested in this topic since it is a serious injury that can occur due to traumas on the battlefield. In army lingo, this injury is referred to as a sucking chest wound. We are instructed to treat it during basic combat lifesaving courses. I understand that medical treatment in a hospital for this type of injury is different and am interesting in learning more about it and the differences in treatment. I am also curious about exactly how these injuries can occur and ways to prevent them. This is especially important since it is a risk to all soldiers, whom I will be in charge of when I commission as a second lieutenant this upcoming May.
There are some factors that I already know of that we are told to look for that may cause a thoracic injury such as a pneumothorax. Any fall greater than roughly three times the height of the patient is one possible cause. Blast injuries as well as gunshot wounds to the chest are other possible causes. It is clear that the severity of the possible traumatic pneumothorax is proportional to the size of the wound. As far as I understand, to treat a pneumothorax or a sucking chest wound (SCW) as the Army refers to is, is probably much different from how it is treated in most medical facilities. We are instructed to apply a bandage over the chest wound with one side of the dressing being opened, while the other three sides are tightly sealed. A chest seal can also be used if one from a combat lifesaving (CLS) kit is available. The reason for this is to allow for the air in the chest cavity to drain without additional air from the outside environment being allowed to enter the wound. CLS bags are also equipped with a decompression needle that can be used to relieve some of the tension from a pneumothorax. If a soldier is experiencing extreme shortness of breath then it is important that we send them to a medical facility as soon as possible as the injury could very easily be fatal if it is indeed thoracic in nature. I focused my research on a few characteristics of the pneumothorax. I first looked into causes and risk factors. Then I was able to study symptoms and signs of the condition as well as techniques used to make the diagnosis. Finally, I looked into medical treatment for a pneumothorax. As stated before, a pneumothorax is a collapsed lung that is caused from a cavity of air outside the lungs. This air pushes on the lung from the outside. This increase in pressure causes the lung to collapse on itself. It is more likely for just a portion of the lung to collapse, but it is also possible for the entire lung to collapse inward. The amount of the lung that has collapsed is often described using percentages. For example a totally collapsed would be a 100% pneumothorax, (Sharma). There a different types of pneumothoraxes that result from varying causes. A spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in the absence of a traumatic event. This is also sometimes referred to as a primary pneumothorax. A pneumothorax that is caused from a trauma is known as a secondary pneumothorax, (Sousa). There are several factors that could cause a pneumothorax. Some traumatic causes are from chest injuries from a motor vehicle crash, stabbing of
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As stated earlier, a preexisting lung disease is one factor that will increase the risk. Statistics shows that men are more likely than women to develop a pneumothorax. I initially thought that this is most likely due to the fact that a large portion are caused from traumatic injuries and in general, men tend to have more high risk occupations. An example of this is that there is a significantly larger amount of men in the military than women. Based upon this logic, it is more likely that the risk of getting a pneumothorax is based upon occupation rather than something biological that differs between the two genders. Statistics show however, that even spontaneous pneumothoraxes occur more often in men so it may indeed be something physiological,

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