Paeds Cases · respiratory-sleep-and-airway
Pneumothorax and air-leak syndromes — OSCE
OSCE assessment and communication station for an adolescent with a spontaneous pneumothorax and an anxious parent.
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Target exams
MRCPCH ClinicalRACP DCE
Prompt
You have 9 minutes with a 15-year-old brought to the emergency department with sudden left chest pain and breathlessness. Assess for tension, outline confirmation and management, and explain the diagnosis and follow-up to the worried parent.
Station brief (candidate)
- Assess this adolescent for tension pneumothorax before anything else and state how you would act if it were present.
- Confirm and size the pneumothorax and outline a management plan appropriate to a stable primary spontaneous pneumothorax.
- Explain the diagnosis to the anxious parent in plain language and agree follow-up and recurrence advice. [2] [5]
References5ShowHide
- [1]Brown SGA Conservative versus Interventional Treatment for Spontaneous Pneumothorax. N Engl J Med, 2020.PMID 31995686
- [2]Roberts ME British Thoracic Society Guideline for pleural disease. Thorax, 2023.PMID 37553157
- [5]Lieu N Update in management of paediatric primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Paediatr Respir Rev, 2022.PMID 34511373
- [9]Lichtenstein DA Relevance of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of acute respiratory failure: the BLUE protocol. Chest, 2008.PMID 18403664
- [11]Mendogni P Epidemiology and management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: a systematic review. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg, 2020.PMID 31858124