Chest
Clinical Investigations: The PleuraAnalysis of Tube Thoracostomy Performed by Pulmonologists at a Teaching Hospital
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We prospectively followed up all patients who had TTs placed by physicians in the Pulmonary/Critical Care Division at the Medical University of South Carolina from August 1992 through July 1994. The procedures were performed by a pulmonary/critical care fellow under the supervision of a pulmonary/critical care attending physician at one of three hospitals in our university system: the Medical University Hospital; the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center; and the Charleston Memorial
Demographics and Indications
Data were collected for 24 months. A total of 126 TTs were placed in 91 patients. Five patients were hospitalized on two separate occasions and required chest tubes during both hospitalizations. Descriptive data are displayed in Table 1. Of the 96 hospitalizations, 57 (59%) were at the university hospital, 18 (19%) were at the Veterans Affairs hospital, and 21 (22%) were at the county hospital. The Pulmonary/Critical Care Division manages the medical ICU at all hospitals. The patient was on the
Discussion
Our data suggest that chest tubes can be placed safely by pulmonologists for a variety of causes.
Indications for TT include the following: pneumothorax (spontaneous, related to barotrauma, iatrogenic); hemothorax or hemopneumothorax; pleural effusions (malignant, complicated parapneumonic, symptomatic, chylothorax); and following trauma or thoracic surgery.3 Our TTs were not placed for trauma or surgical-related indications, but usually for treatment of pneumothorax or pleural effusions. The
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Limitation of tube thoracostomy in treating pneumothorax in COVID-19 infected patients. A retrospective cohort study
2022, Annals of Medicine and SurgeryCitation Excerpt :Chest tube dislodgement after insertion is a common occurrence. Chest tube movement is inevitable, especially in critically ill patients who are frequently repositioned for procedures [24,25] AA Talpur et al. reported a ratio of 1% of dislodged chest tubes in patients having any pathology related to chest cavity and underwent chest intubation [25,26] In this study the ratio was almost similar (2% in COVID19 patients, o% in trauma patients). Subcutaneous emphysema in this study had happened after chest tube insertion as follows (15.7% in trauma patient and in 3 (6%) in COVID19 patients.
A Comprehensive Overview of Chest Tubes
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2017, Thoracic Surgery Clinics