Breast, Chest Wall, and Thoracic Surgery Practice Test

Pneumothorax happens when air enters the pleural space because the pleural membranes (parietal or visceral) are breached, allowing the normally negative pressure to draw air in and cause the lung to collapse. When that breach comes from trauma, surgical procedures, or an esophageal perforation that communicates with the pleural space, air can leak in and produce a pneumothorax, which makes this option the best answer.

Coughing by itself doesn’t create a persistent entry point for air into the pleural space. Pulmonary edema is fluid buildup in the lung tissue, not air in the pleural space, and pleural effusion is fluid in the pleural space. Neither produces a pneumothorax.