Question about chest tubes

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greetings all, i had a question about if anyone has every heard of a chest tube puncturing or lacerating a lung before. I ask this because a, now deceased, patient i knew personally went into Trauma after an MCA and a left side pneumothorax was recorded along with other traumatic injuries; a size 36 chest tube was inserted and 300mL of blood was obtained. In the final reports, it was said that the injury was a hemopneumothorax and that the patient was bleeding profusely out of it. Although hypotensive on arrival, he was deemed hemo-stable soon after but post chest tube insertion his vitals declined progressively.

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Not sure what you're grasping for. Is it possible? Well, anything's possible but being that none of us were there we really can't say. A hemo/pneumo thorax is a very common injury in significant MVCs or with unrestrained vehicle occupants. Think of the MOI. I'm very sorry for your loss. Losing someone unexpectedly and traumatically like this is always tragic. Beyond that I don't think you'll get any of us to support your thinly veiled opinion that a therapeutic misadventure took place.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

This sounds like a personal issue - please contact the pts provider.

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