National survey on management of spontaneous pneumothorax from emergency department to specialised treatment: room for improvement

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) affects both young, otherwise healthy individuals and older persons with known underlying pulmonary disease. Initial management possibilities are evolving and range from observation to chest tube insertion. SP guidelines suggest an individualized approach based on multiple factors such as symptoms, size of pneumothorax, comorbidity and patient preference.

AIM: With this Danish national survey we aimed to map organization of care including involved specialties, treatment choice, training, and follow-up plans to identify aspects, and optimization of spontaneous pneumothorax management.

METHOD: A survey developed by the national interest group for pleural medicine was sent to all departments of emergency medicine, thoracic surgery, respiratory medicine, and to relevant departments of abdominal or orthopaedic surgery.

RESULTS: The response rate was 75 % (47 of 65). Overall, 21% of responding departments had no guideline for SP management, which was provided by multiple specialties with marked heterogeneity in choice of treatment including tube size, management during admission, and referral procedure to follow-up. Few departments required procedure training, and nearly all of the responders called for improvements in management of pneumothorax.

CONCLUSION: This survey suggests that SP management and care is delivered heterogeneously across Danish hospitals with marked difference between respiratory physicians, emergency physicians, general surgeons and thoracic surgeons. It is therefore likely that management is sub-optimal. There is a need for a common Danish SP guideline to ensure optimal treatment across involved specialties.