Pneumothorax, the collapse of an infant’s lungs due to surrounding air pressure, can be caused by ruptured alveoli, lung ulcers, and overactive neonatal ventilators. Premature babies and those with lung disease are at higher risk. Meconium aspiration syndrome and respiratory distress syndrome are also common causes. If left untreated, pneumothorax can be fatal. Symptoms include rapid, labored breathing, facial discoloration, and overactivity of chest or stomach muscles. Medical personnel use visual cues and instruments to monitor for pneumothorax.
In infants, a combination of ruptured alveoli, lung ulcers, and overactive neonatal ventilators can cause pneumothorax, which is the collapse of an infant’s lungs due to surrounding air pressure. Other common causes of pneumothorax in newborns include respiratory syndromes such as meconium aspiration syndrome or respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The risk of pneumothorax in infants is highest for infants born prematurely or with lung disease. If left untreated, your baby’s lungs can often recover on their own without medical intervention; without self-recovery, surgeons must use needles to extract the excess air around the lungs or risk the baby dying of suffocation.
Babies born prematurely often have very fragile and still developing or stunted respiratory systems. As a result, newborn breathing is often aided by hospital ventilators which push air into the newborn’s lungs, causing the alveoli to inflate and deflate as they take on the job of expelling gases such as carbon dioxide. This forced breathing combined with the newborn’s fragile respiratory organs can cause ruptures in the lungs, air sacs, or both.
The alveoli are especially susceptible to rupture because these tiny air sacs on the lungs are made up of thin, single-layer membranes. Although a slippery surface coating keeps the pockets supple during flexion, constant mechanical ventilation can overload even well-coated air pockets, causing lacerations. This is the most common reason for pneumothorax in newborns. If the alveoli don’t rupture, the lungs themselves could tear and develop holes when pushed by a mechanical ventilator.
Meconium aspiration syndrome can develop immediately after delivery when a newborn accidentally inhales fluids from the amniotic sac, including stool, bile, and other amniotic fluids. While in the womb, the baby’s lungs aren’t being used to breathe and they are in no danger of ingesting the mixture, known as meconium, which the baby swallows regularly to feed and filter waste. Once the baby is born, however, any recently swallowed meconium can be sucked into the lungs during the first few breaths. Although meconium aspiration syndrome can cause pneumothorax in newborns indiscriminately, affecting babies at any stage of health or development, RDS only affects premature babies born 10 to 12 weeks early. Babies with RDS don’t have the special slippery coating on the alveoli that allows them to function without tearing the membrane.
Surgeons closely monitor the occupants of the neonatal ward for hints of pneumothorax in newborns. Signs include rapid, labored breathing and facial discoloration so that the baby’s skin has a bluish undertone. Overactivity and contraction of the chest or stomach muscles are additional symptoms. In addition to visual cues, medical personnel rely on instruments that measure the amount of oxygen in the newborn’s blood.
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