TY - JOUR T1 - Tension pneumothorax and the “forbidden CXR” JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 597 LP - 598 DO - 10.1136/emj.2004.018598 VL - 22 IS - 8 AU - R McRoberts AU - M McKechnie AU - S Leigh-Smith Y1 - 2005/08/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/22/8/597.abstract N2 - A case is presented of unilateral tension pneumothorax associated with flail chest and pulmonary contusions in a spontaneously ventilating patient after a fall. The tension element was not suspected until chest x ray was available, nor was immediate needle thoracocentesis performed. No morbidity resulted as a consequence. This case highlights the difficulty in deciding whether or not tension pneumothorax is the predominant cause of respiratory distress in a patient with multiple chest injuries. It provides further evidence challenging some of the doctrine on how to treat suspected tension pneumothorax. ER -