One of the common complications in mechanical ventilation is tension pneumothorax.In this paper 164cases receiving mechanical ventilation were reviewed

and pneumothorax was foundto have high incidences inARDS and COPD.The critical factor to prevent pneumothorax was to reduce the tidal volume

but the alveolarventilation must be ensured by increasing the respiratory rates.In patients receiving mechanical ventilation

pneumothorax should be suspected if some of the following clinical manifestations appeared abruptly

e.g.

decreased blood oxygen saturation

increased airway pressure

dininished breath sound of the involved lung

tachycardia and dyspnea.The diagnosis was made by detecting the air from the pleural space by direct neelepuncture

The effective treatment was closed thoracic drainage.