🫁 Pneumothorax Management Pathway
UseUse to act immediately on tension pneumothorax and to choose conservative care, aspiration, or drainage for s…
SourceRoberts ME, et al. British Thoracic Society Guideline for pleural disease: pneumothorax. Thorax 202…
This-shift next steps
After scoring: open the scene pack, peer scores, and the matching pathway. Local reference — no HIS write.
Paste the link in Slack, Teams, X, or LinkedIn — the preview image comes from this page’s Open Graph card.
Methodology · worked example, guidelines & full notes
Tension pneumothorax is a clinical diagnosis treated before imaging, whereas stable spontaneous pneumothorax is managed by symptoms rather than size alone. (original synthesis · not guideline verbatim)
When to use
Use to act immediately on tension pneumothorax and to choose conservative care, aspiration, or drainage for spontaneous pneumothorax by symptoms and size.
How it works
Tension → conservative; symptomatic → aspiration/Heimlich/drain.
Key points
- Tension pneumothorax is a clinical diagnosis treated before imaging, whereas stable spontaneous pneumothorax is managed by symptoms rather than size alone. (original synthesis · not guideline verbatim)
- Recurrence or persistent air leak prompts VATS with pleurodesis and smoking cessation.
References
- [Guideline / primary source]Roberts ME, et al. British Thoracic Society Guideline for pleural disease: pneumothorax. Thorax 2023.
Worked calculation
The values below come from this tool's own example placeholders and are computed server-side with the formula shown on this page, so the arithmetic can be checked quickly. It demonstrates how to substitute values only — it is not clinical advice and not a real case.
| Type | Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP, no underlying lung disease) |
|---|---|
| Symptoms/size | Minimal symptoms/small |
→Pneumothorax[Pending update] Some thresholds, grades and management recommendations on this page that conflict with current guidelines or are unverified are temporarily hidden pending verification against the guideline text.
- Management：[Pending update] Some thresholds, grades and management recommendations on this page that conflict with current guidelines or are unverified are temporarily hidden pending verification against the guideline text.
- Escalation：Worsening symptoms/enlargement → needle aspiration or drainage
- Basis：BTS 2023 spontaneous pneumothorax guideline
Verification & sources · governance
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- What are the limits and cautions when using Pneumothorax Management Pathway?
- For licensed clinicians and clinical researchers. Interpret results with history, investigations and local protocols; not a diagnosis or prescription, and not a substitute for multidisciplinary decision-making or local guidelines.
- Does Pneumothorax Management Pathway upload patient data? Where is it calculated?
- Calculation runs locally in the browser; inputs and results are not uploaded. For licensed clinicians only; interpret with history, investigations and local protocols — not a diagnosis or prescription.
- How is Pneumothorax Management Pathway calculated in practice? Can you show a worked example?
- Inputs: Type Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP, no underlying lung disease), Symptoms/size Minimal symptoms/small → Result: Pneumothorax [Pending update] Some thresholds, grades and management recommendations on this page that conflict with current guidelines or are unverified are temporarily hidden pending verification against the guideline text.（Management: [Pending update] Some thresholds, grades and management recommendations on this page that conflict with current guidelines or are unverified are temporarily hidden pending verification against the guideline text., Escalation: Worsening symptoms/enlargement → needle aspiration or drainage, Basis: BTS 2023 spontaneous pneumothorax guideline）