A road traffic accident patient presents with breathlessness. Differentiation between cardiac tamponade and tension pneumothorax is best done by?
High-Yield Explanation
Ans. (d) Breath soundsRef. B&L page 354/ 26th Edition* Both Tension pneumothorax and Cardiac tamponade both present with breathlessness, tachypnea and distended neck veins* Tension pneumothorax features - Hyper resonance over the chest and absent breath sounds.* Cardiac tamponade - Classically, the presentation consists of venous pressure elevation, decline in arterial pressure with tachycardia, and muffled heart sounds.