Pleural, Chest wall, and thoracic structural disorders

A pleural effusion is best defined as

Abnormal fluid accumulation in the pleural space.

A patient with pleural effusion would most likely have which percussion finding over the affect area.

Dullness

Which finding is most consistent with pneumothorax.

Hyper resonance to percussion

Which abnormal pleural space content is associated with empyema.

Pus

A transdudative pleural effusion is most commonly associated with

Heart failure

An exudative pleural effusion is usually caused by

Local inflammation, infection, malignancy or injury.

Which clinical finding would help distinguish empyema from a simple pleural effusion

Fever and leukocytosis

A 49-year-old patient with pneumonia develops fever, leukocytosis, pleuritic chest pain, and loculated plueral fluid. The most likely compliation is

Empyema.

Thoracentesis may be preformed to

Removed pleural fluid for testing or symptom relief.

After thorancentesis the RT should monitor closely for signs.

Pneumothorax.

Kyphoscoliosis primarily causes which type of pulmonary mechanics problem

Restrictive chest wall disorder

Which PFT pattern is expected with kyphoscoliosis

Decreased FVC, decreased TLC, Normal or increased FEV1/FVC.

Severe Kyphoscoliosis can lead to chronic hypoventilation, which may cause

increased PaCO2

Why might oxygenation therapy alone be insufficient for severe kyphoscoliosis with chronic CO2 retention.

Oxygen does not correct hypoventilation

The primary respiratory risk with rib fractures is often

Pain-related splinting causing shallow breathing and poor cough.

Flail chest occurs when

Multiple adjacent ribs are fractured in more than one place

The classic movement of a flail chest segment

Inward during inspiration and outward during expiration.

Pulmonary contusion is best described as

Bruising of lung tissue after trauma.

A pulmonary contusion can worsen over several hours because of

alveolar bleeding, edema, and worsening V/Q mismatch.

A hemothorax is

blood in the pleural space.

Which finding is more consistent with hemothorax then pneumothorax

Dullness ot percussion

Tension pneumothorax becomes life-threatening because

Air enters the pleural space and cannot escape, causing pressure buildup

In an unstable trauma patient with severe dyspnea, hypotension, faling SpO2, and absent breath sounds on one side, the RT should suspect

Tension pneumothorax.

In suspected tension pneumothorax with rapid deterioration the team should

Treat based on clinical findings and prepare for decompression.

Chest tubes may be used to remove all the following from the pleural space.

Alveolar surfactant.

Pleural effusion can compress adjacent lung tissue and contribute to compression

True

Empyema is usually less serious than a simple pleural effusion because the fluid is sterile

False.

Pneumothorax is commonly associated with decreased or absent breath sounds on the affected side

True

Sudden severe dyspnea, rapid SpO2 drop, hypotension, unilateral absent breath sounds, and tracheal deviation are findings that require immediate escalation.

True

In a patient with a chest tube, the RT should monitor breath sounds, SpO2, work of breathing, drainage system function and sudden change in condition.

True