Negative pleural suction in thoracic trauma patients: A randomized controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Trauma surgery
• Thoracic surgery
• Critical care medicine

Background:

• Investigating the efficacy of negative pleural suction in chest trauma patients.
• Assessing complications like air leak, clotted hemothorax, and empyema.
• Evaluating the impact on hospital stay duration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the benefits of negative pleural suction versus no suction in tube thoracostomy for chest trauma.
• To compare complication rates and hospital stay between the two groups.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial (Therapeutic study, level II) involving 110 patients with traumatic pneumothorax, hemothorax, or hemopneumothorax.
• Group 1: Three-bottle chest drainage with negative suction. Group 2: Three-bottle chest drainage without suction.
• Exclusion criteria included mechanical ventilation, emergency surgery, prior thoracic procedures, chronic lung disease, and severe head injury.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in hospital stay (p=0.22) or chest tube duration (p=0.35) between groups.
• No significant difference in overall complication rates.
• A statistically higher probability of air leak was observed in the negative suction group (p=0.023).

Conclusions:

• Negative pleural suction does not provide advantages over a non-suction chest drainage system for uncomplicated traumatic chest injuries.
• The findings suggest that suction may not be necessary for these patients, and could potentially increase air leak risk.