Word parts
pleur/o pleura-itic relating to inflammation
What it means
Pleuritic chest pain is sharp, often stabbing, and gets worse when the person breathes in deeply, coughs or sneezes, because the inflamed layers of the pleura rub together. It can come with pneumonia, a pulmonary embolism, viral infections, lupus, a collapsed lung and other conditions.
For the nurse
Ask the client to describe the pain and whether breathing makes it worse. Splinting the chest with a pillow can ease pain during coughing. Sudden pleuritic pain with shortness of breath needs urgent reporting.
Related terms
-itis
A word ending that means inflammation.
pulmonary embolism
A blockage of an artery in the lungs, usually by a blood clot that has traveled there from elsewhere in the body.
pneumonia
An infection of one or both lungs in which the air sacs fill with fluid or pus.