Tension pneumothorax happens when air gets trapped in the pleural space and pressure builds up, collapsing the lung and compressing the heart. The key sign to know for NCLEX: tracheal deviation, where the trachea shifts toward the opposite side of the chest. See tracheal deviation, think tension pneumothorax.
Let's talk about a key sign and symptom that the NCLEX loves to test you on for tension pneumothorax and pneumothorax. So, attention pneumothorax happens when air cannot escape the pleural space in the lungs. Now, this causes the pressure to continually increase inside the chest cavity, and it collapses the lung and it adds extra pressure on the heart. Now for attention pneumothorax. A key sign to watch for is tracheal deviation. So anytime you see that phrase tracheal deviation, where the trachea here is actually deviated, it's pushed to the other side. That is a key NCLEX point for tension pneumothorax. When you see tracheal deviation, think tension pneumothorax. You can find all these med surg flashcards inside the nursing SOS shop.
