Bilobectomy quesitno

[zacarias, ASN, RN]

Hey all,

I had a pt last night who was s/p bilobectomy (RML and RUL) and while he wasn't a difficult patient I do have a question. He had very audible breath sounds on his R side!! The base was decreased. Anyway, if there's no lung tissue, why do I hear aeration? Of course it wasn't pneumonectomy...maybe therein lies the answer?

[SaraO'Hara]

I'm just a pre-nursing student, but I have read that patients who have undergone pneumonectomy sometimes display adventitious lung sounds from the remaining lung, which are audible on the pneumonectomy side.