A surgical case of a woman with right spontaneous pneumothorax at 29 weeks of gestation during management of imminent abortion

Abstract

A 35-year-old pregnant woman developed right spontaneous pneumothorax at 29 weeks of gestation during the management of imminent abortion. She was admitted to our hospital, and chest tube drainage was performed. The air leak stopped, and the collapsed lung re-expanded the day after drainage. However, a massive air leak occurred 4 days after admission, and chest radiograph revealed that the lung had recollapsed. Further, her symptoms of imminent abortion were in remission. Therefore, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery was planned and performed 7 days after admission. Fetal heart rate monitoring was used to monitor the fetus during the surgery. Neither the mother nor fetus showed any perioperative complications. The chest tube was removed 4 days after the surgery, and she was admitted to the Department of Obstetrics the next day. Thereafter, she experienced no recurrence of pneumothorax and delivered a healthy baby at 39 weeks of gestation. Thus, we suggest that surgery can and should be considered when treating a pregnant woman with spontaneous pneumothorax.