Hypoxemia after pneumothorax exsufflation: a case report

Abstract

We describe a 36-year-old patient who was admitted to the emergency ward for acute dyspnea due to a spontaneous pneumothorax. He was successfully drained but shortly after presented a severe hypoxemia due to pulmonary oedema secondary to pulmonary re-expansion. The physiopathology behind this complication is still unknown. We will try to describe this complication and its predictive factors.

Keywords

• pneumothorax
• re-expansion
• oedema
• hypoxemia