A trauma patient is hypotensive with absent breath sounds on the right, distended neck veins and tracheal deviation to the left. What is the immediate action?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Immediate needle or finger decompression of the right chest, without waiting for a radiograph
- Step 1: This picture is tension pneumothorax, a clinical diagnosis. Step 2. Decompression of the affected side is life-saving and must not wait for imaging. Answer: immediate decompression. Why not the others: Imaging delays care; fluids do not relieve the obstruction; absent breath sounds point to the chest, not the pericardium.
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