Slovenská chirurgia 3 - 4/2021

Diagnosis, treatment and recommendations for the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax

Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) affects young healthy people with a significant recurrence rate. The incidence of PSP is between 18-28 per 100 000 per year in males and 1,2-6 per 100 000 per year in females. Smoking remains the main risk factor of PSP. Routine smoking cessation is advised. Last decades advances in treatment and management of patients with PSP have been variably implemented in clinical practice. Formation and spontaneous rupture of subpleural blebs and bullae are described as pathophysiological mechanism of PSP. However the precise pathogenesis of PSP is not completely understood. The key guidelines in the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) include the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Pleural Disease guideline, European Respiratory Society task force statement: diagnosis and treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax and American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Consensus Statement. Acknowledgements from these sources are creating rudimental source of information in our review.

Keywords: spontaneous pneumothorax, chest drainage, thoracotomy, video-assisted thoracoscopy