Recently, the news that Kim Minting, a member of the South Korean girl group aespa, underwent pneumothorax surgery in a large hospital in Seoul quickly became a hot search, causing heated discussions among fans and netizens. Many netizens are unfamiliar with "pneumothorax" and wonder how the disease arises. As everyone knows, as a pulmonary emergency, if pneumothorax cannot be treated in time, it can even be life-threatening in severe cases.
People who are elongated, tall, and have recurrent chronic lung infections are at high risk of pneumothorax
"A pneumothorax is a condition in which air enters the pleural space, causing gas to accumulate. If the lung is compared to a 'balloon', then the pneumothorax is often due to the fact that the 'balloon' bursts a hole, and the air leaks into the pleural cavity, causing shortness of breath, chest tightness, cough and other uncomfortable symptoms", Ding Chao, director of the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Xi'an Chest Hospital, introduced that the causes of pneumothorax are traumatic, and the lungs themselves have no lesions, such as car accident injuries, falls, One is caused by endogenous factors, that is, self-elements, such as due to congenital dysplasia, the lungs have a large alveoli (a kind of localized emphysema) and then rupture, resulting in pneumothorax, or acquired repeated infections, the lung interstitium is destroyed, forming a pulmonary bulloru, and the alveoli rupture causes a pneumothorax, which is more clinical. There are also other rare conditions, such as endometriosis. Because endometriosis grows on the surface of the lungs in women, it also causes pneumothorax to fall off as the menstrual cycle changes.
Ding Chao pointed out that among pneumothorax patients, there are more men than women. In addition to pneumothorax due to trauma, people who are slender and tall, as well as people with chronic inflammation and recurrent infections in the lungs are at high risk of the disease. Because people with a slender and tall body shape are prone to pulmonary bullae due to congenital developmental abnormalities. People with lung abscess, tuberculosis, chronic tissue lung disease and recurrent infections are also prone to the formation of pulmonary bullae and induce pneumothorax due to the destruction of the intervals between the small alveoli in the lungs.
More than 20% of the spillage volume requires intervention
As a pulmonary emergency, pneumothorax can be life-threatening when severe. Ding Chao introduced that in the case of rupture of the alveoli or when the rupture caused by trauma, a large break will cause tension pneumothorax. The so-called tension pneumothorax, that is, air leakage in the lungs, due to continuous air leakage into the chest cavity, and the breach is large and cannot be closed, the internal tension is very high, so that the mediastinal deviation, the patient will have shortness of breath, dyspnea, chest pain, chest tightness and other symptoms, and even cause blood circulation disorders, infection and shock, etc., "usually when tension pneumothorax occurs, it must be treated in time, otherwise it will endanger life."
Ding Chao said that when a pneumothorax occurs, whether surgery is needed or not must be determined according to the amount of pneumothorax. If the breach is large, the volume of air overflow is large, and the recurrence occurs, prompt surgery is required. If the breach is small and the amount of air overflow is small, such as less than 20%, it can be treated conservatively by internal medicine to allow the overflow gas to absorb itself. Basically, if you absorb about 1% per day, your condition will be relieved after a while. If the volume of air overflow exceeds 20%, intervention is required, either by internal medicine thoracentesis, i.e., by fine-needle thoracentesis, or by surgical thoracostomy. Usually, the first attack of pneumothorax is performed with thoracostomy and the vast majority of patients are cured. If pneumothorax is recurrent, thoracoscopic minimally invasive surgery is done to access the lungs for repair or alveolar resection. In addition, if you are engaged in high-risk industries, such as working at height, diving, etc., if you have a pneumothorax while working, there will be a greater risk, and it is recommended to have surgery as soon as possible.
There is also an open pneumothorax, such as a patient with a knife stab, because after the lung is punctured, the inside of the lung communicates with the outside air, which forms an open pneumothorax, which will cause mediastinal swing and will also be life-threatening.
"Clinically, most of the pneumothorax caused by ruptured alveoli is generally not serious, and the harm to life is relatively small, so there is no need to be nervous. Ding Chao said that in daily life, when the body suddenly has unexplained chest pain, shortness of breath and chest tightness symptoms, you should be vigilant, especially those with a slender body, you should go to the hospital in time to check whether there is a pneumothorax.
Huashang Daily Gale News reporter Wu Jie
Picture Internet (invaded and deleted)