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| Treatment For Subcutaneous Emphysema |
Question:
What is subcutaneous emphysema and how is it treated?
Answer:
Subcutaneous Emphysema is where part of a lung collapses with no discernible causative factor.
It occurs most commonly in tall, thin people and is more common when they
are young. The 'rice crispy skin' is refered to as "subcutaneous
emphysema". This results from air bubbles in the skin.
There are three common treatments depending on severity...
1) do nothing - the lung will eventually reexpand.
2) administer Oxygen - this helps the person breath and speeds lung
reinflation by a gas diffusion mechanism ( the Oxygen helps reabsorb the
Nitrogen in the collapsed zone).
3) Chest tube - a tube is placed through the chest wall into the collapsed
zone and applyed to vacuum to help reexpand the lung.
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