This is a contained space within the lung harboring infecting bacteria and fluid. Treatment is drainage, often by inserting a tube into the airways temporarily. Occasionally, bad abcesses require removal. Empyema is infection of the pleural cavity, which is the space between the lung and the wall of the chest. This can occur, for example, as a complication of pneumonia in children.
Treatment is drainage of the cavity with a tube.
Occasionally other procedures need to be performed to eradicate the infection, which can become chronic otherwise. Spontaneous pneumothorax can appear in otherwise healthy children who suddenly have difficulty breathing. The pediatrician will listen for breath sounds and find them to be faint on one side. The air comes from a leak on the surface of the lung, probably congenital in origin. Treatment is evacuation of the air, and repair of the lung leak, usually resulting in no recurrence of the problem.