Trapped Lung

Trapped lung is a lung that cannot fully re-expand after fluid is drained from around it, because a stiff layer of scar or tumor on its surface holds it down. It is common with mesothelioma and long-standing pleural effusions, and it changes which treatments will work to control fluid.

Origin

Chest physicians have long noticed that some lungs stay partly collapsed after a pleural effusion is drained. The terms trapped lung and lung entrapment came into use in the twentieth century; many specialists now use nonexpandable lung as the broader term, covering both mature scar and active tumor or inflammation.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Mesothelioma often coats the lung in a rind of tumor, and benign asbestos pleural disease can do the same with scar. When fluid is drained, a trapped lung cannot expand to fill the space, so the person may feel chest pain or tightness during drainage, and the X-ray afterward may show air or space left where fluid was. This matters for treatment. Talc pleurodesis works by gluing the lung to the chest wall, which needs the lung to touch the wall, so it often fails in a trapped lung. In that case doctors usually recommend an indwelling pleural catheter, which lets fluid be drained at home. In some patients surgery to peel the rind off the lung (decortication) is considered. For a claim, a trapped lung is part of the medical picture of the disease and its burden: repeated drainage, catheters and reduced breathing are harms that the records should document.

Example Sentence

After two liters were drained, her lung still would not expand, and the pulmonologist explained that a trapped lung made a pleural catheter a better choice than talc pleurodesis.

Related Terms

Pleural Effusion, Thoracentesis, Pleurodesis, Talc Pleurodesis, Indwelling Pleural Catheter, Pleurectomy-Decortication (P-D), Visceral Pleura, Diffuse Pleural Thickening

Notes

• If drainage causes chest pain or pressure, tell the doctor right away; it can be a sign the lung is not expanding.
• Ask whether your lung re-expanded fully after each drainage, since that affects the next treatment choice.
• Keep a simple log of drainage dates and amounts if you have a home catheter.