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Concept
Chest tube
Summary
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 in order to remove clinically undesired substances such as air (pneumothorax), 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. 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. The use of chest tubes in postoperative thoracic care was reported in 1922, 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.
Medical uses of chest tube are as follows:
Pneumothorax: accumulation of air or gas in the pleural space
Pleural effusion: accumulation of fluid in the pleural space
Chylothorax: a collection of lymph in the pleural space
Empyema: a pyogenic infection of the pleural space
Hemothorax: accumulation of blood in the pleural space
Hydrothorax: accumulation of serous fluid in the pleural space
Urinothorax: accumulation of urine in the pleural space
Contraindications to chest tube placement include refractory coagulopathy and presence of a diaphragmatic hernia, as well as hepatic hydrothorax. Additional contraindications include scarring in the pleural space (adhesions).
The most common complication of a chest tube is chest tube clogging.
Official source
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