

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. However, the technique was not widely used until the influenza epidemic of 1918 to evacuate post-pneumonic empyema, which was first documented by Dr. 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. 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. (5,6) Some.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. (2) Each PDS that is available on the market has its own design, and this will have a direct effect on its intrinsic resistance to flow, which in turn determines its maximum absorption capacity. Pleural leaks can have an air flow rate that ranges from 20 L/min) with low suction levels, and it must also be able to keep the negative pressure applied to the patient constant, despite variations in the air flow through the pleural leakage. Some of the problems that appear with the use of pleural drainage systems (PDSs) stem from the fact that the drainage flow rate achieved by the system is insufficient, and this in turn leads to the unsatisfactory evacuation of pleural liquids or air.


Key words: biomedical engineering flowmeters laboratory pleural drainage system pneumothoraxĪbbreviations: mb = millibars PDS = pleural drainage system Being fitted with valves and not water compartments makes the dry systems the safest and the ideal for use when the patient has to be moved. Although the three types of systems are capable of evacuating adequate air flow rates, the negative pressure and the capacity to maintain it in the presence of an air leak are different in each system.

When there is an air leak, dry systems (except for the Sentinel Seal) lose less negative pressure than the other systems.Ĭonclusions: The functioning of these systems can be optimized only by applying a suitable wall suction level adjusted to each case. With higher wall suction levels, wet systems increase the air flow (26 to 49 L/min) but the negative pressure becomes unstable because of the water loss phenomenon, dry systems increase the air flow (29 to 50 L/min) without modifying the regulator pressure, and single-chamber systems also raise the air flow (45 to 51 l_/min) but increase the negative pressure. Results: Under normal conditions, dry (except for the Sentinel Seal Sherwood Medical Tullamore, Ireland), wet, and single-chamber systems reach similar air flow rates (17 to 30, 24 to 27, and 22 to 28 L/min, respectively). The components of each model are also described. We determined the ambient air flow and the negative pressure generated according to the suction level. The models were classified into the following three groups: dry systems wet systems and single-chamber systems. Methods: Thirteen models of pleural drainage systems connected to wall suction were examined. This experimental study analyzes the specifications and performance of the pleural drainage systems currently on the market. The air flow and negative pressure of the system will depend on the particular design of each model. Background: A pleura] drainage system must be capable of efficiently evacuating the air or fluids from the pleural cavity so that adequate lung reexpansion can take place.
