ABSTRACT
Pneumothorax is the term given to the situation where the lung has ‘burst’ or been ‘holed’ and has collapsed with air escaping into the pleural space. These are termed ‘spontaneous’ when there is spontaneous escape of air from the lung as a result of abnormality of the visceral pleura – usually a ruptured bulla or bleb at the apex of a lung – or ‘traumatic’ when resulting from chest wall injury with rib fractures leading to damage and puncture of the underlying lung.
