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Hemothorax

A hemothorax (or haemothorax) is a condition that results from blood accumulating in the pleural cavity. Its cause is usually traumatic, from a blunt or penetrating injury to the thorax, resulting in a rupture of either of the serous membrane lining the thorax and covering the lungs. This rupture allows blood to spill into the pleural space, equalizing the pressures between it and the lungs. Blood loss may be massive in people with these conditions, as each side of the thorax can hold 30%-40% of a person's blood volume. more...

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Medicines

If left untreated, the condition can progress to a point where the blood accumulation begins to put pressure on the mediastinum and the trachea, effectively limiting the amount of diastolic filling of the ventricles and deviating the trachea to the unaffected side.

Signs and symptoms

  • Tachypnea.
  • Dyspnea.
  • Cyanosis.
  • Decreased or absent breath sounds on affected side.
  • Tracheal deviation.
  • Dull resonance on percussion.
  • Unequal chest rise.
  • Tachycardia.
  • Hypotension.
  • Pale, cool, clammy skins.
  • Possibly subcutaneous air.
  • Narrowing pulse pressue.

Therapy

By inserting a drain (chest tube) into the thoracic cavity blood is removed. This procedure is called tube thoracostomy. Patients should recover swiftly after this. Unless the cause is rupture of the aorta in high energy trauma. The intervention by a thoracic surgeon is mandatory.

Related Links

  • Pleural effusion
  • Pneumothorax
  • Tension pneumothorax
  • Cardiac tamponade

Read more at Wikipedia.org


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Lethal factor checklist aids pediatric chest trauma assessment. (Airway Breathing, Hemothorax).(Brief Article) : An article from: Pediatric News $5.95 Trauma Ultrasound Examination Versus Chest Radiography in the Detection of Hemothorax. : An article from: Journal of Trauma Nursing $5.95
Serosal Membranes (Pleura, Pericardium, Peritoneum) : Normal Structure, Development and Experimental Pathology (Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology) $119.00 Hemothorax and retroperitoneal hematoma after anticoagulation with enoxaparin. : An article from: Southern Medical Journal $5.95
The medical properties and therapeutic effects of the chlorate of potash: Including the history of a remarkable case of haemato-thorax successfully treated by this remedy

A 25-year-old patient with spontaneous hemothorax
A 25-year-old African-American woman with a chief complaint of progressive dyspnea and cough presented to the inpatient service after her primary care ...
Pathologic Quiz Case: A 39-Year-Old Man With Diffuse Pleural Thickening and Massive Hemothorax
A 39-year-old man presented in the emergency room with complaints of movement-dependent, right-sided chest pain radiating to the right shoulder; shortness ...
Delayed hemothorax after blunt trauma without rib fractures
Delayed hemothorax after blunt trauma is a rare, significantly morbid entity described in the current literature associated with displaced rib fractures.
Spontaneous Hemothorax In An Obstetrical Patient Due To Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations
D. S. Green, MD and D. K. Payne, MD, FCCP--Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, ...
Pathologic quiz case: Pulmonary mass in a patient presenting with a hemothorax
A 59-year-old white woman was admitted to the hospital with a chief complaint of cough and shortness of breath. She stated that her coughing started 6 ...
Massive hemothorax due to enlarging arteriovenous fistula in pregnancy
Clare M. Laroche M.D.; Francis Wells, M.D.; and John Shneerson, D.M. A 37-year-old woman with hereditary telangiectasia suffered a life-threatening ...
Hemothorax and hemopericardium in a patient with Bean's blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome
David Langleben, M.D.;([unkeyable]) Norman Wolkove M.D., F.C.C.P.; Herbert Srolovitz, M.D.; Robin C. Billick, M.D.; and Nathan M. Sheiner, M.D. A patient with Bean's blue rubber bleb nevus syndro
Pulmonary blastoma presenting with massive hemothorax
Pulmonary blastoma, a rare primary lung neoplasm occurring in both children and adults, is histologically distinct from other lung tumors. A patient ...

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