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Thoracostomy tubes after acute chest injury: relationship between location in a pleural fissure and function
J J Curtin1, L R Goodman, E J Quebbeman
1Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to determine how often chest tubes placed for acute trauma lie within a pleural fissure and to determine whether an intrapleural location influences outcome.
Subjects And Methods:
Fifty-eight consecutive thoracostomy patients who had 66 chest tubes were studied prospectively. Tube location was determined from frontal and lateral chest radiographs. Outcome measures recorded included the following: duration of thoracostomy drainage, quantity of pleural fluid drained, need for further tubes, length of hospital stay, appearance on last chest radiograph before discharge, and need for surgical intervention.
Results:
Thirty-eight (58%) of the tubes were placed within a pulmonary fissure, 15 (23%) were posterior, nine (13%) were anterior, and four (6%) were in other locations. We found no significant difference in any of the outcome measures between tubes located in the fissure and other tubes.
Conclusion:
A large percentage of tubes placed for acute chest trauma lie within a pleural fissure. These tubes, however, appear to function as effectively as those located elsewhere in the pleural space.