A 25-year-old man was admitted in hospital due to right side hemopneumothorax secondary to car accident. A chest tube was inserted. During the hospitalization days, chest CT scan revealed a 3cmx3 cm oval-shaped density located in the right upper lobe. Since he was in a good general condition, he was discharged from hospital after removal of chest tube and a follow-up chest CT-scan was recommend...

OBJECTIVES Chest tube insertion seems to be one important factor leading to intercostal nerve impairment. The purpose of this prospective study was to objectively evaluate intercostal nerve damage using current perception threshold testing in association with chest tube insertion. METHODS Sixteen patients were enrolled in this study. Intercostal nerve function was assessed with a series of 20...

OBJECTIVES The management of chest tubes is one of the most critical aspects in patient care in thoracic surgery, and no consensus exists regarding the ideal chest tube management strategy. METHODS Chest tube management protocols and their effects on chest tube therapy were compared at four German specialist thoracic surgery units. Altogether, 79 patients were stratified for underlying diseas...

BACKGROUND Traditionally chest tubes are set to -20 cm H2O wall suctioning until removal to facilitate drainage of blood, fluid, and air from the pleural or mediastinal space in patients after open heart surgery. However, no clear evidence supports using wall suction in these patients. Some studies in patients after pulmonary surgery indicate that using chest tubes with a water seal is safer, b...

OBJECTIVE Chest tubes induce morbidity such as pain, decrease mobility, increase the risk of infection, and prolong the length of hospital stays. This study evaluates a chest-tube protocol containing a high-drainage threshold and a short time period of drainage. METHODS A retrospective study was performed with data collected from all elective complete video-assisted thoracoscopic (c-VATS) (bi...

Empyema the collection of pus in pleural cavity. Its caused by an infection and can cause symptoms such as pain shortness breath. The study was based on 50 patients admitted to hospital time period 2 years. different treatment methods used were Fluid removal chest tube, a thoracotomy or performing thoracoscopic surgery. For high-risk patient tube drain with repeated toilet operation theatre sav...

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the current practice habits among clinicians treating spontaneous pneumothorax and bronchopleural fistula. METHODS Practice habits were determined by a randomized postal survey of 3,000 American College of Chest Physicians members. Group comparisons are performed by chi2 analysis with p<0.05 being significant. RESULTS Four hundred nine respondents (13.6%) in...

Figure 1. Plain films (a) of the abdomen following small bowel feeding tube placement and (b) of the chest after immediate removal of the tube.