What is up my friend, Christina here with nursingschoolofsuccess.com and today's video
is going to help you FINALLY understand exactly what a pneumothorax is.
I know it's a big scary word, and I had a hard time remembering exactly what it was
during nursing school.
So I'm going to break it all down for you here today.
And make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the bell so get notified when we post
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I've got a lot of awesome things coming for you that you don't want to miss.
Now, let's dive into pneumothorax pathophysiology
So a pneumothorax means that there is a hole in the pleural space surrounding the lung,
and this causes the lung to collapse.
So let's take a look at this: there is a thin space surrounding the lungs, called the pleural
space.
And this pleural space separates the lungs from the chest wall and helps you to breathe
smoothly.
Now, a pneumothorax occurs when air gets inside this pleural space, from a hole.
And when air gets inside that pleural space, it creates a pressure difference that causes
the lung to collapse.
Now 2 types of pneumothorax that you need to know about are an open pneumothorax and
a closed pneumothorax.
So let's talk about those.
An open pneumothorax occurs when there is an outside wound, like a puncture or something,
that causes an opening into the pleural space to the outside of the body, so air is leaking
from the outside of the body into the pleural space.
This is different than in a closed pneumothorax.
For a closed pneumothorax, there is no open wound on the outside of the body.
This is where there is a hole in the lung and air is leaking from the lung into the
pleural space.
Now, the key thing to note about a pneumothorax is that air can move in and out from the pleural
space, this is very different than a tension pneumothorax, where air cannot escape the
pleural space, it just gets trapped inside and puts pressure on the heart, lungs and
blood vessels.
It's really important for you to know this difference because a tension pneumothorax
is a medical emergency and needs to be treated immediately.
Because of all that pressure it puts inside the chest cavity.
A pneumothorax can be caused by injury, trauma, or a rib fracture, medical procedures like
mechanical ventilation, or also by underlying conditions like asthma or COPD.
Now if you'd like a deeper dive into the signs and symptoms of a pneumothorax, the nursing
assessment and nursing interventions you'll need to do for it, you'll definitely want
to check out the NursingSOS Membership Community, where we have all those videos for you.
I'll walk you through all of those things, so definitely check that out if you're interested.
I'll put a link down below in the description.
And that is a wrap my friend.
I hope this video helped you to understand what a pneumothorax is a little bit better.
If you liked this video, make sure to leave a comment below to let me know, share it with
a friend, and of course, subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss out on a future
video.
Now we've got tons of other videos here on this channel for you to watch to help you
succeed in nursing school, so stick around, and go become the nurse that God created only
YOU to be.
I'll see you next time.