Pulmonary Emergencies Practice Test

A simple pneumothorax presents with pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath because air has entered the pleural space and partially collapses the lung. The irritation of the pleura causes the sharp, worsened chest pain with breathing, and the collapsed lung leads to reduced ventilation and dyspnea. On exam, you typically hear decreased breath sounds on the affected side due to the absence of air movement where the lung has collapsed. Hyperresonant percussion can also be present because there’s more air in the chest. Tracheal deviation is not expected in a simple pneumothorax; that finding points toward a tension pneumothorax, where pressure buildup pushes the mediastinum to the opposite side and is a life-threatening emergency. Additionally, a simple pneumothorax does not automatically require a chest tube for every patient. Stable, small pneumothoraces can be managed with observation and oxygen, with intervention reserved for larger or symptomatic cases.