Reexpansion pulmonary edema- A case report

A middle aged male presented to us with right side pneumothorax. Two hours after insertion of intercostals tube he felt discomfort and increased breathlessness. His chest examination showed crepitations. Chest radiograph showed partial expansion of right lung with opacity in right lower zone consistent with unilateral pulmonary edema. He was managed conservatively and improved with complete resolution on chest radiograph. Reexpansion pulmonary edema is an uncommon complication of the treatment of lung atelectasis, pleural effusion or pneumothorax and patho-genesis is unclear.