While assessing a victim of a motor vehicle crash, the nurse notes that the patient's trachea is shifted towards the left. What does this finding indicate to the nurse?

a. Cardiac tamponade
b. Right lung hemothorax
c. Left lung pneumothorax
d. Right lung tension pneumothorax


ANS: D
In a tension pneumothorax, air is trapped in the pleural space during exhalation, resulting in increased pressure on the unaffected lung. The heart, great vessels, and trachea shift toward the unaffected side of the chest. A. A patient with cardiac tamponade will have hypotension, tachycardia, and neck vein distention. B. C. Air or blood leaking into the intrapleural space collapses the lung, resulting in a pneumothorax or hemothorax and ineffective ventilation.

Nursing

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