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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Does Fluid In The Lungs Indicate?

I had a fall in November of last year leaving me with 2 fractured ribs at the front and 1 broken rib at the rear which punctured the left lung from x-rays it was noted that fluid was left in the lower part of the lung that got damaged as the months have gone by I decided to have another x-ray of the lung to see if the fluid had gone of which all is clear however the reason for wanting to get confirmation on this is that I have developed an annoying cough quite reaching, in the x-ray a shadow was noticed to the original punctured lung and after a CT scan it was confirm to be a size of 5cm by 2cm the coughing has reduced but now I notice if a talk for a while I run out of breath?
Wed, 30 Aug 2017
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  User's Response
Hi there,

Fluid after a punctured lung is known as a hemothorax, or blood in the chest cavity. Usually, this can be drained by a chest tube, but it sounds like this wasn't done for you. If you have an annoying cough, its likely due to the blood that is being reabsorbed in your chest. Although 5x2cm in size of fluid is pretty small, it's just enough to likely cause an annoying cough.

If it's been several months and you're still having symptoms, and the fluid is still there, it's also possible that it isn't going to be reabsorbed and this may require surgery to clean out your chest. I'd take a copy of your CT scan (the actual images) and see a thoracic surgeon and ask his opinion if the cough is still bothering you and you're more than a month out from your initial injury.

I hope I have answered your question. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
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What Does Fluid In The Lungs Indicate?

Hi there, Fluid after a punctured lung is known as a hemothorax, or blood in the chest cavity. Usually, this can be drained by a chest tube, but it sounds like this wasn t done for you. If you have an annoying cough, its likely due to the blood that is being reabsorbed in your chest. Although 5x2cm in size of fluid is pretty small, it s just enough to likely cause an annoying cough. If it s been several months and you re still having symptoms, and the fluid is still there, it s also possible that it isn t going to be reabsorbed and this may require surgery to clean out your chest. I d take a copy of your CT scan (the actual images) and see a thoracic surgeon and ask his opinion if the cough is still bothering you and you re more than a month out from your initial injury. I hope I have answered your question. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.