Risk for re-expansion pulmonary edema following spontaneous pneumothorax.
OBJECTIVE
Re-expansion pulmonary edema is an uncommon condition that occurs when a collapsed lung is expanded. The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors associated with re-expansion pulmonary edema which may occur as a complication when carrying out treatment for spontaneous pneumothorax.


METHODS
A total of 462 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax treated with chest tube drainage in inpatient settings at the Nissan Tamagawa Hospital during the 6-year period between January 2007 and December 2012 were retrospectively evaluated. The data were analyzed to identify any clinical differences between the patients with and without re-expansion pulmonary edema.


RESULTS
Re-expansion pulmonary edema occurred on 30 (6.5 %) of the 462 patients. The duration of lung collapse in the patients with re-expansion pulmonary edema was longer than that observed in the patients without re-expansion pulmonary edema. (7.7 ± 9.1 and 2.4 ± 4.6 days). This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The extent of lung collapse in the patients with re-expansion pulmonary edema was more severe than that observed in the patients without re-expansion pulmonary edema. This difference was also statistically significant (P = 0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that treating spontaneous pneumothorax using chest tube drainage requires careful consideration in view of the relatively high incidence of re-expansion pulmonary edema, especially in cases associated with long periods of lung collapse or large spontaneous pneumothoraxes.
Pneumothorax Research Center and Division of Thoracic Surgery, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, 4-8-1 Seta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 156-0095, Japan, tknhosp@yahoo.co.jp.
Takahiro
T
Haga
Masatoshi
M
Kurihara
Hideyuki
H
Kataoka
D000328:Adult; D015505:Chest Tubes / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004322:Drainage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D001261:Pulmonary Atelectasis / Q000150:complications; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult