Clinical Profile of Spontaneous Pneumothorax in Adults: A Retrospective Study

Pneumothorax is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, but limited data are available regarding the aetiology, clinical profile, management and outcome of spontaneous pneumothorax from India in recent times. This was a retrospective observational study conducted at a Government chest hospital which included patients with the diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax seen over a period of one year. Demographic, clinical, radiological and treatment data were collected from hospital records and analysed. Of the 86 patients studied (male:female = 4:1), two had primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and 84 had secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (SSP). The annual incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax was calculated to be 1590 per 100,000 hospital admissions. Annual incidence figures for PSP and SSP were 37 and 1553 per 100,000, respectively. The most common cause of SSP was found to be pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia. Our observations suggest that pneumothorax is more common among men. Secondary spontaneous pneumothorax is more common than PSP and the most common cause of SSP was pulmonary TB followed by COPD.