MSFinals-2181

MSFinals-2181

A 56-year-old male presents to the emergency department with a sudden onset of sharp chest pain on the left side and difficulty breathing. He has a medical history of COPD and uses a salbutamol inhaler. Upon examination, there is decreased chest expansion and breath sounds on the left side, as well as hyper-resonance on percussion. A chest x-ray reveals a 2.1 cm left-sided pneumothorax at the lung hilum. What is the next step in managing this patient?