So you looked at the patients chest x-ray and observed complete lung whiteout. Now you're wondering what the cause might be. The causes might be:
- Mucus plug blocking mainstem bronchi:
- Right mainstem intubation
- Total lung collapse (massive pneumothorax)
- Massive Pleural effusion
- Massive hemothorax
- Pulmonary edema
- Severe pneumonia
Mediastinal shift may help you diagnose the above. More on Mediastinal shifts coming soon in a post called pneumothorax and hemathorax. Stay tuned.
Source for this post: Xiong, Lian, "
Complete Lung Whiteout,"
Nursing Critical Care, July 1, 2009.
Facebook
Twitter
2 comments:
a massive pneumothorax will have a black lung field not a lung whiteout
Very interesting observation. I didn't even catch that. I was just copying the list from the magazine article.
Post a Comment