Important points to remember
As tension pneumothorax is a life-threatening condition, the diagnosis of a tension pneumothorax should be made based on the history and physical examination findings. A chest radiograph or CT scan should be used only in those instances where one is in doubt regarding the diagnosis and when the patient's clinical condition is sufficiently stable.
Premature diagnosis of tension pneumothorax in a patient without respiratory distress, hypoxia, hypotension, or cardiopulmonary compromise should not be made. Immediate portable chest X-ray must be done to confirm the diagnosis.
Consider the diagnosis of a pneumothorax and/or tension pneumothorax with blunt and penetrating trauma. In the patient with blunt trauma; mental status changes, hypoxia and acidosis may be attributed to a suspected intracerebral injury rather than a tension pneumothorax. Portable chest radiography should always be included in the initial radiographic evaluation of major trauma.
Myocardial rupture with tamponade may clinically mimic tension pneumothorax.
Maintain a high index of suspicion for a tension pneumothorax in patients using ventilators who have a rapid onset of hemodynamic instability or cardiac arrest, particularly if they require increasing peak inspiratory pressures.
Avoid assuming that a patient with a chest tube does not have a tension pneumothorax if he or she has respiratory or hemodynamic instability. Chest tubes can become plugged or malpositioned and cease to function.
Avoid the “one size fits all” approach for tube thoracostomy placement.
Tube thoracostomy is an extremely painful procedure. In stable patients, adequate analgesia/sedation should be administered, followed by generous amounts of local anesthetics when chest tubes are placed.
An initial parenteral dose of a first-generation cephalosporin should be administered for chest tube insertion in the emergency department to decrease the risk of empyema and pneumonia.
Small pneumothoraces should be treated with thoracostomy tubes if the patient is undergoing mechanical ventilation or undergoing air transport prior to transfer to another facility.