My brother in law is in the hospital with a collapsed lung. they put a tube in his chest and he is going for his second surgery tomorrow. ?

The chest: Tube is helping keep his lung expanded and allowing it to heal. Good luck.

Pneumothorax: It sounds as if your brother may be one of those unlucky souls prone to a spontaneous pneumothorax, and his doctor plans a scarification procedure or removal of the problem portions of the lung. Neither surgery is not too complex, and most patients do very well with the tiny bit of non-functioning lung gone or the lung scarred so it sticks to the chest wall. If you need more info just ask!

Recurrent problem: The collapsed lung is called a spontaneous pneumothorax if it happens without prior trauma. If he has anatomical blebs in his lung or his doctors feel he is at high risk for recurrence they may do a bleb resection and/or a pleurodesis which is deliberate scarring to force the lung to adhere to the chest wall so it can't collapse again as is prone to happen in some people.