Pregnant and 3x Collapsed left lung

I am 19 weeks pregnant ant in the last 3 monthe have had my left lung collapse 3 times. I am now home with a valve and a chest tube that I am told I will have to have until after my child ius born. The tube is very uncomfotable and I can onlt take tylenol. I cannot seem to find any info on this subject.They will not do any testing due to the baby. I could use any info or advice I can get. I am a 32 yr old female with no prior respitory or serious medical problems.

[National Jewish]

Collapse of the lung, also called pneumothorax, can reoccur.  This can happen even with the chest tube in place.  It is possible to prevent another pneumothorax with thoracoscopic treatment, even during pregnancy.  Using a camera at the end of scope the pneumothorax is treated through small incisions in the chest.  A pulmonologist would be the type of specialist to identify if this treatment would be the best for you.

[Ellis7]

Check out:

Spontaneous Pneumothorax During Pregnancy
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
... Winter JT, Nichols FC, Pairolero PC, et al: Management of spontaneous pneumothorax during pregnancy: case report and review of the literature. Mayo Clin Proc ...

www.sma.org/smj2002/maysmj02/pdf/gorospe.pdf
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[katieroseanne]

A related discussion, spontaneous pheumothorax was started.