Pulmonary Air Leak
Conditions
Keywords
chest tube drainage, pulmonary air leak, lung resection
Brief summary
The effect of local chest-tube management protocols on the duration of chest-tube therapy following thoracic surgery was analyzed in four German specialized Thoracic Surgery Units. The primary study objective was the duration of chest tube therapy in postoperative patients.
Detailed description
The management of chest tubes is probably one of the most critical aspects in patient care in thoracic surgery and defines the required length of postoperative hospital stay in the majority of patients. So far, no generally accepted recommendations exist for postoperative chest tube management to streamline the postoperative stay. Instead, decision making in most thoracic surgery units is based on team preferences and individual training rather than scientific data. Therefore, digital pleural drainage systems represent a useful tool to standardize existing intradepartmental protocols for chest tube management. However, for the development of generally accepted protocol-recommendations, the diverging interdepartmental treatment protocols have to be analyzed and compared for superiority. In this IIT, the effect of different chest tube management protocols on chest tube duration is analyzed in four German Thoracic Surgery units.
Interventions
PROCEDUREChest tube removal
Chest tube removal on the basis of local recommendations for postoperative chest tube management
Sponsors
Medela AG
Schillerhoehe Hospital
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* age 18-85 * following pulmonary wedge resection, anatomic segmentectomy, or lobectomy
Exclusion criteria
* surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax (primary and secondary) * surgery for pleural empyema * present medication with corticoids, immunosuppressive drugs or platelet aggregation inhibitors other than Aspirin * history of chemotherapy, radiotherapy of the chest, or previous ipsilateral thoracic surgery
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| chest tube therapy duration | participants are followed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 5 days | number of days following thoracic surgery until chest tube was removed |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| presence of pulmonary air leak | participants are followed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 4 days | number of days the Medela Thopaz device detected a pulmonary air leak following thoracic surgery |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed