BACKGROUND A pleural drainage system must be capable of efficiently evacuating the air or fluids from the pleural cavity so that adequate lung reexpansion can take place. The air flow and negative pressure of the system will depend on the particular design of each model. This experimental study analyzes the specifications and performance of the pleural drainage systems currently on the market. ...

Twenty-one of 146 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax that were treated by thoracentesis or continuous low negative pressure suction drainage (-12 cm H2O) of the pleural space developed REPE. The rate of REPE was higher in patients 20 to 39 years of age than in those over the age of 40, and the rate progressively increased in proportion to the extent of pneumothorax, as assessed by roentgenograph...

BACKGROUND The most frequent wound complication following repair of large incisional hernias is seroma formation, especially when the use of a mesh onlay requires extensive subcutaneous undermining. Treatment options for postoperative seromas include observation for spontaneous resolution, percutaneous aspiration, closed suction drainage, abdominal binders, and sclerosant. METHODS A novel tec...

Results The VAP rates over the entire study period varied between 0 and 30.9/1000 ventilator days. The VAP rate for the year 2009 was 9.72 (22 VAP infections in 2263 ventilator days) which reduced to 3.43 (11 VAP infections in 3202 ventilator days) in the following year 2010 as a result of the interventions. The study showed hand hygiene compliance of the healthcare workers and length of stay o...

INTRODUCTION Although perforation of the esophagus, in the anterior cervical spine fixation, is well established, cases with delayed onset, especially cases that present pseudodiverticulum, are not common. In addition, management of the perforation in this situation is debated. CASE REPORT Delayed esophageal pseudodiverticulum was managed in two patients with a history of anterior spine fixat...

We report a case of a 26-year-old male with a large left-sided spontaneous pneumothorax, whose manifestations developed 5 days prior to hospitalisation. Suction drainage was complicated by unilateral re-expansion pulmonary oedema (REPO) and bleeding into the left pleural cavity. During thoracotomy oozing of blood from multiple sites on the pleural surface was observed. Both the temporal relatio...