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A hemothorax 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. 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. In anatomy, the pleural cavity is the potential space between the lungs and the chest wall. ...
Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ...
A serous membrane is a very thin layer of cells (usually one row) covering internal body cavity. ...
The heart and lungs (from an older edition of Grays Anatomy) The lung is an organ belonging to the respiratory system and interfacing to the circulatory system of air-breathing vertebrates. ...
The mediastinum is a non-delineated group of structures in the thorax (chest), surrounded by loose connective tissue. ...
The trachea (IPA /treikiÉ™/), or windpipe, is a tube extending from the larynx to the bronchi in mammals, and from the pharynx to the syrinx in birds, carrying air to the lungs. ...
In anatomy, a ventricle is a part of the body filled with fluid. ...
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.
Tachypnea is a medical term for breathing which is more rapid than normal. ...
Dyspnea (Latin dyspnoea, Greek dyspnoia from dyspnoos - short of breath) or shortness of breath (SOB) is perceived difficulty breathing or pain on breathing. ...
Cyanosis refers to the bluish coloration of the skin due to the presence of deoxygenated hemoglobin in blood vessels near the skin surface. ...
Tachycardia is an abnormally rapid beating of the heart, defined as a resting heart rate of over 100 beats per minute. ...
In physiology and medicine, hypotension refers to an abnormally low blood pressure. ...
Therapy By inserting a drain (chest tube) into the thoracic cavity blood is removed. This procedure is called thoracentesis. 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. A chest tube or chest drain is a flexible plastic tube that is inserted through the side of the chest into the pleural space. ...
Thoracentesis (also known as thoracocentesis or pleural tap) is an invasive procedure to remove fluid or air from the pleural space for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. ...
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