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Digital Versus Conventional Chest Drainage Systems in Resource-limited Setting: A Comparative Analysis
Pedro Henrique Xavier Nabuco de Araújo1, João Paulo Cassiano de Macedo1, Paula Duarte D'Ambrosio1
1Instituto do Cancer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), Hospital das Clinicas de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 01246-000, Brazil.
Objectives:
To evaluate whether digital drainage systems reduce chest tube duration and hospital stay following anatomical lung resection in a resource-limited healthcare setting.
Methods:
This retrospective study, approved by the institutional ethics committee (Approval No. 30491514.3.0000.0065), compared digital and conventional water seal drainage systems in a public hospital in Brazil. Outcomes included chest tube duration and hospital stay. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to control for confounding variables.
Results:
A total of 388 patients were included (67.8% smokers, mean age 63.8 years). After PSM, 85 matched pairs, no significant differences were observed in most demographic and clinical variables. Lobectomies were more frequent in the conventional group (100% vs 85.9%, P < 0.001). After paired statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed no significant differences in chest tube drainage time (4.2 vs 4.4 days, P = 0.397) or hospital stay duration (4.9 vs 5.2 days, P = 0.745).
Conclusions:
In a resource-constrained setting, digital drainage systems are feasible and may support clinical decision-making through precise air leak quantification. However, no significant differences were observed in key outcomes when compared to conventional drainage, warranting further investigation into cost-effectiveness and broader implementation strategies.
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