A patient with a flail chest is experiencing pendelluft. Which of the following would be expected in a patient with a flail chest with pendelluft?
1) Hypoventilation
2) Hypertension
3) Cyclical deeper and then more shallow breathing
4) Rebreathing dead-space gas

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Pendelluft in flail chest leads to hypoventilation due to the paradoxical movement of the chest wall, impairing effective ventilation. This results in rebreathing of dead-space gas, as air moves between areas of the lung with different ventilation capacities instead of being exchanged with the external environment.

A Patient with a Flail Chest Is Experiencing Pendelluft