Brief Answer:
not quite sure

Detailed Answer:
what " stomach and chest fill with air where rib cage will bust".
Several possible meanings:
1) hyperinflation of the lungs due to plain asthma. Happens. Contaminants certainly can cause this but people can just suddenly get an allergic reaction to something they didn't have a reaction to before. Indeed, since allergic reaction REQUIRES you to have sensitization to it, there HAS to be a first exposure without a reaction first, then you develop immunity to it that causes the reaction the Next time.
2) Lung popping. Spontaneous pneumothorax. Happens all the time the pressure of sucking it in can cause a hole to pop open and air to go where it normally would not:
around the outside of the lung compressing itpneumothorax
with bleeding hemopneumothorax
in the chest outside of the lung entirely pneumomediastinum
then there's all the rest....
" Talcosis, characterized as perihilar conglomerate masses, architectural distortion, and emphysema, was diagnosed in 3 patients. Other patterns were found less frequently: organizing pneumonia and bullous emphysema, in 2 patients each; and pulmonary infarction, septic embolism, eosinophilic pneumonia, and cardiogenic pulmonary edema, in 1 patient each"
http://www.yyyyyy.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
or pulmonary vascular insults (endovascular infections, hemorrhage, and vasoconstrictive events).
http://www.yyyyy.yyy.nih.gov/yyyyyy/0000
or stopping breathing from the effect on the brain
.....but those are more fluid and masses not so much air.
I'd go with the first two: asthma or popping a hole somewhere. Those are pretty common.

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Brief Answer:
sorry website was down

Detailed Answer:
Sorry, felt quite helpless not able to answer til now.

Good question. The hole is quite small almost always and is NOT a significant problem by itself. In cocaine, there is not usually either a big hole NOR other damage NOR much bleeding. BUT the air leakage produces several problems. The air gets trapped around the lung and the lung either cannot hold air enough to work (punctured lung) or worse, the air piles up, and squishes BOTH Lungs so they don't hold any air. This can even block blood flow. (TENSIONPNEUMOTHORAX).

BUT the bad stuff generally happens within minutes to an hour after the injury. Or not. and then the air gets resorbed and the hole tends to heal up about the time of any deep scratch (hour).

So.... needs hospitalization. Maybe a tube to suck out the air. BUT never had anyone have much problem from this. It tends to be easily fixed.'ll

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Brief Answer:
it's a serious situation

Detailed Answer:
and immediately life threatening. I cannot say about a particular situation if I am not there. If there is air in the tissue that you press on spots and feel bubbles moving then one can KNOW there is a serious pneumothorax. This is not common with pneumothorax and deadly ones do not typical give obvious signs. They are all very very bad without treatment. A simple chest x ray will show how serious and how to treat but that has to be done immediately.

And... the not as serious situation of severe asthma can still be deadly and still needs emergency treatment. The significant difference is a MILD pneumothorax will be a day or so in the hospital. A Moderately bad asthma attack mostly is hours in the ER and home. Frankly anywhere that has an x-ray machine (an urgent care setting) can also do the diagnosis and treatment except the chest tube. But the treatment has to be emergent for either punctured lung OR asthma.
cannot say in this particular case and this is general information.

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