The free end of the Chest Drainage Device is usually attached to an underwater seal, below the level of the chest. This allows the air or fluid to escape from the pleural space, and prevents anything returning to the chest.
Other names
Intercostal drain
Specialty
pulmonology
ICD-9-CM
34.04
MeSH
D013907
[edit on Wikidata]
A chest tube (also chest drain, thoracic catheter, tube thoracostomy or intercostal drain) is a surgical drain that is inserted through the chest wall and into the pleural space or the mediastinum. The insertion of the tube is sometimes a lifesaving procedure. The tube can be used to remove clinically undesired substances such as air (pneumothorax),[1] excess fluid (pleural effusion or hydrothorax), blood (hemothorax), chyle (chylothorax) or pus (empyema) from the intrathoracic space. An intrapleural chest tube is also known as a Bülau drain or an intercostal catheter (ICC), and can either be a thin, flexible silicone tube (known as a "pigtail" drain), or a larger, semi-rigid, fenestrated plastic tube, which often involves a flutter valve or underwater seal.
The concept of chest drainage was first advocated by Hippocrates when he described the treatment of empyema by means of incision, cautery and insertion of metal tubes.[2] However, the technique was not widely used until the influenza epidemic of 1918 to evacuate post-pneumonic empyema, which was first documented by Dr. C. Pope, on a 22-month-old infant.[3] The use of chest tubes in postoperative thoracic care was reported in 1922,[4] and they were regularly used post-thoracotomy in World War II, though they were not routinely used for emergency tube thoracostomy following acute trauma until the Korean War.[5]
^Noppen M, Alexander P, Driesen P, Slabbynck H, Verstraeten A (May 2002). "Manual aspiration versus chest tube drainage in first episodes of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: a multicenter, prospective, randomized pilot study". American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 165 (9): 1240–1244. doi:10.1164/rccm.200111-078OC. PMID 11991872.
^Hippocrates (1847). Genuine Works of Hippocrates. Sydenham Society.
^Graham ME, Bell CR (1918). "Open Pneumothorax: Its relation to the treatment of empyema". J Med Sci. 156 (6): 839–871. doi:10.1097/00000441-191812000-00007.
^Lilienthal H (March 1922). "Resection of the lung for supportive infections with a report based on 31 consecutive operative cases in which resection was done or intended". Annals of Surgery. 75 (3): 257–320. doi:10.1097/00000658-192203000-00001. PMC 1399898. PMID 17864604.
^Miller KS, Sahn SA (February 1987). "Chest tubes. Indications, technique, management and complications". Chest. 91 (2): 258–264. doi:10.1378/chest.91.2.258. PMID 3542404.
A chesttube (also chest drain, thoracic catheter, tube thoracostomy or intercostal drain) is a surgical drain that is inserted through the chest wall...
pneumothorax is small, it may go away on its own. If large, a chesttube is placed through the skin and chest wall into the pleural space to remove the air. Blood...
removed with a syringe or a chesttube connected to a one-way valve system. Occasionally, surgery may be required if tube drainage is unsuccessful, or...
needle thoracostomy or an incision into the chest wall with the insertion of a thoracostomy tube (chesttube) or with a hemostat and the provider's finger...
receive a chesttube (> French 36) or needle decompression if chesttube placement is delayed. FAST exam should include extended views into the chest to evaluate...
inserting a chesttube, then either mechanically abrading the pleura or inserting the chemicals to induce a scar. This requires the chesttube to stay in...
is a medical process involving the insertion of a plastic tube (nasogastric tube or NG tube) through the nose, down the esophagus, and down into the stomach...
procedure, most commonly the insertion of an intercostal drain, or chesttube. This tube is typically installed because it helps restore a certain balance...
Heimlich valve) is a one-way check valve used to prevent airflow back into a chesttube, and usually is applied to drain air from a pneumothorax. The design of...
interventions like tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation and chesttube insertion. Diagnosis of blunt injuries may be more difficult and require...
needle decompression before a chesttube is placed. This procedure is indicated when unexplained fluid accumulates in the chest cavity outside the lung. In...
after a thoracotomy. Clinicians should be on the look out for chesttube clogging as these tubes have a tendency to become occluded with fibrinous material...
pneumothorax is commonly treated with needle aspiration of air followed by chesttube drainage. In the case of a recurrent pneumothorax, pleurodesis may be...
lumen tracheal tube. In a double lumen endotracheal tube, each lumen may be connected to a different ventilator. Usually one side of the chest is affected...
person's blood. Hemothoraces may be treated by draining the blood using a chesttube. Surgery may be required if the bleeding continues. If treated, the prognosis...
pediatric population is almost always parapneumonic and the need for chesttube drainage can be made on clinical grounds, British guidelines for the management...
After heart surgery, chesttubes are placed to drain blood. These chesttubes, however, are prone to clot formation. When a chesttube becomes occluded or...
Chest drains are surgical drains placed within the pleural space to facilitate removal of unwanted substances (air, blood, fluid, etc.) in order to preserve...
tissues outside of them. Its most common causes are pneumothorax or a chesttube that has become occluded by a blood clot or fibrinous material. It can...
wished to maintain drainage as with a chesttube to allow the lung to re-expand but without the presence of the chesttube that he felt "tends to keep up fever...
8–25% of people following lung cancer surgery. This complication delays chesttube removal and is associated with an increased length of hospital stay following...
the cause of the finding. In the case of pneumothorax, thoracentesis or chesttube insertion is performed to relieve the pressure within the affected pleural...
(often isoechogenic with empyema). Appropriate management includes chesttube drainage (tube thoracostomy). Treatment of empyemas includes antibiotics, complete...
hydrothorax is end stage liver disease and correctable only by transplant. Chesttube placement should not occur. Other measures such as a TIPS procedure are...
medication errors. Sterile talc powder, administered intrapleurally via a chesttube, is indicated as a sclerosing agent to decrease the recurrence of malignant...
The thorax (pl.: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen...
risk of pneumothorax. Pneumothorax sometimes requires treatment with a chesttube. Bleeding can be life-threatening and can occur in 1 to 4%. Rarely, intercostal...
With a properly positioned tracheal tube, equal bilateral breath sounds will be heard upon listening to the chest with a stethoscope, and no sound upon...
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