After a Collapsed Lung Treated With a Chest Tube: How to Care for Your Child

Most kids recover well from a collapsed lung, but it is important to watch for returning symptoms.

A collapsed lung, also known as a pneumothorax, is a collection of air in the space between the lung and the chest wall.

Air that normally is inside the lung can leak outside of it and get trapped between the lung and the chest wall. This causes part of the lung to deflate like a balloon.

There are two ways that a collapsed lung happens — spontaneous and traumatic:

1. A spontaneous pneumothorax happens all by itself without an injury to trigger it. Sometimes no cause can be found. Some cases are caused by a lung disease (such as asthma or cystic fibrosis) or problems with how the lungs were formed. Most cases of spontaneous lung collapse occur during adolescence, but it can happen at any age.

2. A traumatic lung collapse follows an injury to the chest, such as from an auto crash. A pneumothorax can even happen after a surgeon moves tissue around during chest surgery.

Usually, a pneumothorax only involves one lung, but some can involve both sides. Health care providers diagnose a pneumothorax with a chest X-ray. Sometimes a CT scan is needed to get more information about the collapsed lung.

Your child's health care provider placed a small tube through the chest wall to empty the air from around the lung. When this trapped air was removed, the lung was able to reinflate. This change might have taken hours or days.

During the hospital stay, the doctors and nurses monitored your child's breathing and the lung's reinflation. Your child was given pain medication while the chest tube was kept in place (possibly for a few days), and the air and fluids that came out through it were tracked. Additional chest X-rays helped show how the treatment was working.

The lung is reinflated, the tube has been removed, and it is now safe for your child to go home from the hospital.

• Watch your child for any returning symptoms of a collapsed lung: shortness of breath, chest pain, or difficulty with exercise.

• Give your child any pain relief or other medications as directed by the health care provider.

• Leave the bandage in place for 72 hours. If there is any drainage or the wound still looks open when you remove the bandage, replace it with gauze and tape as you were shown.

• After 72 hours, your child may shower with a bandage in place, but should not take a bath or soak in water until the surgical wound is completely healed over and does not need a bandage.

• Make sure your child returns for all follow-up visits.

• A child who has had a collapsed lung may not be able to fly in an airplane for a while and may need to avoid deep sea diving permanently. Discuss your child's restrictions with the health care provider.

Your child has:

• Redness, pus, or swelling at the surgical wound site.

• A fever of 101°F (38.3°C) or higher.

• Pain that is not improving with pain medication.

Your child:

• Has shortness of breath, especially if it comes on suddenly.

• Has worsening chest pain.

• Is pale, dizzy, or weak.