When to remove a chest tube?: A randomized study with subsequent prospective consecutive validation

• Published in: Journal of the American College of Surgeons Vol. 195; no. 5; pp. 658 - 662
• Main Authors: Younes, Riad N, Gross, Jefferson L, Aguiar, Samuel, Haddad, Fabio J, Deheinzelin, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.11.2002; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Chest Tubes; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pleural Effusion - surgery; Prospective Studies; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the respiratory system; Thoracic Surgical Procedures - methods; Treatment Outcome; Removal; Human; Iatrogenic; Tube; Decision making; Surgical drainage; Treatment efficiency; Thorax; Volume; Surgery; Complication; Pleura; Threshold

Operative procedures on the pleural space are usually managed by chest tube drainage. Timing for removing the tube is empirically established, with wide variation among surgeons. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of establishing a volume of 200 mL/d of uninfected drainage as...