A proposed improvised pleural drainage system for veterinary use

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Surgical Devices
• Thoracic Surgery

Background:

• Continuous pleural fluid or air drainage requires active pleural suction devices.
• These specialized devices may not be universally available or economical for all veterinary practices.
• Improvised solutions are needed to address the accessibility and cost barriers of commercial pleural drainage systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate three novel designs for pleural drainage systems.
• To adapt standard suction canisters for creating functional and affordable pleural drainage devices.
• To assess the efficacy and accuracy of improvised pleural suction systems in a veterinary setting.

Main Methods:

• Construction of three distinct pleural drainage system designs using common veterinary hospital materials.
• Design 1: A 1-bottle system for pneumothorax management.
• Design 2: A 2-bottle system for combined air and fluid drainage.
• Design 3: An abbreviated 2-bottle system.
• Suction pressure for each design was measured using a water manometer.

Main Results:

• Designs 1 and 2 demonstrated consistent and accurate suction pressure with only minor fluctuations.
• Design 1 experienced intermittent increases in suction pressure due to air vent bubbling.
• Design 3 exhibited greater pressure fluctuations, reaching up to 1 cm H2O above the set pressure, attributed to lower water volume.

Conclusions:

• The improvised pleural drainage devices are effective for continuous drainage of air and fluid.
• These systems allow for accurate delivery of set suction pressures.
• The proposed designs can be rapidly constructed from inexpensive, readily available materials, offering a practical alternative for veterinary hospitals.