Medical Questions » Lungs Questions » Question No. 587
| Question: | My son suffers from asthma, but he was recently sent in to hospital with a pneumothorax. Can you explain this? |
| Answer: | Your lung is made up of millions of air bubbles that all connect together by means of fine air-filled tubes. The entire lung lies in a sack that has a smooth inner surface, allowing the lung tissue to slide over it as you breathe in and out.
If the lung develops a puncture (ie. one or more of the tiny air bubbles or tubes bursts) air will leak into the sack around the lung, and will be unable to escape. More and more air steadily accumulates in the sack, causing pressure on the lung, shortness of breath and pain. These punctures can occur for no apparent reason, or may be due to lung diseases such as asthma, which put an excessive stress on the lungs.
Once diagnosed, urgent medical attention is required. A tube is placed through the chest wall to remove the escaped air, and this allows the lung to expand and refill the sack.
Pneumothorax resembles asthma in that die the patient is short of breath, but asdimatics are not normally in pain.
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