3: What is ‘trapped lung’?
It’s really important to know if a person has a trapped lung because trying to do a pleurodesis will not work in this situation. For the glue to stick the lung to the ribcage the two have to be touching. In a trapped lung there is gap between the lung and rib cage so the glue will not work.
Your doctors will only know if a person has a trapped lung by doing a chest X-ray after the fluid has been drained away. So if that person has never before had the fluid drained away it is impossible to know if they have a trapped lung until the fluid is drained away for the first time.
Quick link to video animations
- What is ‘trapped lung’?
- If you have a trapped lung:
What is ‘trapped lung’?
A ‘trapped lung’ is when fluid from the chest is drained away but instead of the lung filling with air again like a balloon the lung stays squashed down. This happens because the cancer causes the outer lining of the lung to become thickened which stops the lung from moving like it normally would. This means there is a gap between the lung and the rib cage after the fluid has been drained away.