Spontaneous pneumothorax (scan, hospital, normal, surgery)

[Élan vital]

thoughts and prayers for you all! Please give us updates.

Originally Posted by KsStorm

Well we are currently waiting on surgery to come & get her. The hole hasn't healed on it's own after a week,so they are going ahead w/ the surgery. She is in Children's Mercy in KC so I am confidant she is in good hands.

[Viralmd]

Originally Posted by kibblesandbits

I didn't have this condition exactly but I had an empyema, which is a complication of pneumonia where pus collects in the pleural space between the lung and the pleural wall. I had to have two chest tubes inserted to drain out the pus. I have had many issues from the chest tubes--I wondered what others' experiences have been. I have not been able to take a deep, normal breath on that side since this happened, almost 15 years ago. It feels as if my lung is encased in scar tissue in part of it, however my chest x-ray after the event after 6 months was normal. Anyone else have something similar?

Empyema is pus in the pleural cavity (the space between the lung and the chest wall). It is CRITICAL to put in a chest tube for treatment, because this is a closed space infection and MUST be drained. You might have adhesions from this, but I think, overall, it's preferable to death.

The procedure to put the pleura against the chest wall is called pleurodesis. It has also been done chemically, especially in cancer patients who get malignant pleural effusions.

[Élan vital]

any updates on the OP's daughter??

[fara1989]

how was her recovery after the operation? coz i did the exact thing last week and wanted tro no how long it took ur daughter to heal and what was the pain she experiened

[fara1989]

plz answer i am very worried and want to go back to my life

[lorriem]

I never had the operation but doc wanted me to. Was told by another Doc he would put a chest tube in. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks since he put the tube in wrong. I went to another hospital by ambalance and the doc there told me the tube he put in was in the wrong place. Great. He put it in the correct place and in a week I went home. The pain from that lasted about 1 year when i woke up in the morning and took a deep breath.
I had another one 15 years ago and no tube or hospital was needed. It inflated by itself.
Check to see if the tube is the better way to go.

[KsStorm]

She did very well after the surgery, and was on pain meds for about a week afterwards. Has't had any problems since (knock on wood!) !

[sharkey1]

My 20 yr old son had spontaneous pneumothorax Oct 2009 and had a tube inserted. After an air flight a month later on a regular commercial flight, it happened within 24 hrs again. This time he was told he could try and heal without a chest tube, although they recommended it for a speedy recovery. I believe the chest tube was inserted incorrectly; after questioning and the x ray result came in, it was pulled out a total of 12cm. I still wonder if this created more damage. within 48 hrs of removing that tube it happened again. We opted out of surgery while waiting in the hospital for 4 days, as it was again healing. He took a multitude of vitamins and herbs along with homeopathics over the next four months and was doing well. Now 15 months later, it has re-occured. This time it was not a bad, no chest tube, and healing on it's own but we are being pressured for sugery. Would love more info from those that have experienced this or has more knowledge. Any suggestions on alternative medicine??

[eileenmk]

I had a chest tube removed 4 months ago, the pain went away for awhile, but now it's back. Does anyone know if that's normal? I'm afraid it might be breast cancer or something serious?

[jfvdirect]

My boy just had his left side, then they did a CT scan that showed blebs on his right lung, we opted for surgery as all the doctors in the hospital advocated it. My boy is still in the hospital going on 8 days. I wonder if what we did was right. They did surgery, staples and talc.