Abstract

Background: Pneumothorax refers to the accumulation of air in the pleural cavity. Spontaneous pneumothorax can be primary (PSP) or secondary (SSP). Most cases of PSP occur in young adults and healthy adolescents, in the second and third decades of life, gender wise more often in men. The goal of treating a pneumothorax is a complete re-expansion of the lung parenchyma and normalization of the lung function while preventing the recurrence of the disease. Conventional chest tube drainage is considered the gold standard and method of choice in the treatment of pneumothorax. Complete and stable re-expansion of the lung parenchyma is achieved in 80-90% of cases. It is indicated regardless of the size of pneumothorax in patients with PSP. Objective: Determining the extent to which primary treatment was also definitive in the treatment of patients with pneumothorax; Analyzing the recurrence rates after drainage of the pleural cavity. Methods: This study included 161 patients with signs and symptoms of PSP who were hospitalized at the Clinic of Thoracic Surgery Clinical Center University of Sarajevo in a given period. Results: Chest tube drainage was performed as an initial treatment in all admitted patients. Of the total number of patients, 25 of them (15.5%) had a recurrence of pneumothorax. Moreover, 14 patients with recurrent PSP underwent surgery: 11 patients underwent thoracotomy and three patients underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). Conclusion: All patients included in this study were initially treated with chest tube drainage, which was also the definitive treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax in 84.5% of cases.

Key words: spontaneous pneumothorax, chest tube drainage, recurrence