Posttraumatic Pulmonary Pseudocyst
What the heck is this!?
This is a condition that occurs in the lungs after blunt trauma to the chest. Though it is unusual, it must be watched for in all adults who undergo this type of injury. It develops during the first week and is seen on chest radiograph as a fluid or air-filled cavity in the lung tissue. These lesions become life-threatening if they become infected.
Unfortunately, simply giving antibiotics usually is not an effective treatment. Infected pseudocysts with just one cavity should be drained by having the radiologists place and leave a drain through the skin. Pseudocysts with more than one cavity usually require an operation that may result in one of the lobes of the lung being removed.
Or, in the vernaculuar of surgeons – simple pseudocysts require percutaneous drainage and loculated pseudocysts require thoracotomy leading to lobectomy most typically.
Copyright 2006 Insidesurgery.com
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