Final answer:
A patient with a kinked or clamped chest tube is at risk for a collapsed lung, or pneumothorax because the obstruction can prevent the release of air from the pleural space, leading to a loss of the negative pressure required to keep the lungs inflated.
Step-by-step explanation:
A patient with air in the pleural space whose chest tube becomes kinked or clamped is at risk for a collapsed lung. This condition is known as a pneumothorax, which occurs when air enters the pleural cavity and disrupts the negative pressure that normally keeps the lungs inflated. If the chest tube, which is meant to remove this air and re-establish negative pressure, becomes obstructed, the lung can collapse due to the inability to expand during inhalation.
Spontaneous pneumothorax can result from subtle abnormalities in connective tissue. The condition is exacerbated when intrapleural pressure becomes more positive, leading to the collapse of the airways upon exhalation, trapping air in the lungs. When liquid adhesion is compromised by air entering the chest cavity, the lungs can collapse because nothing prevents the alveoli from succumbing to surface tension. Suction is typically applied in medical settings to reestablish the negative intrapleural pressure and reinflate the lungs.