A regional survey of chest drains: evidence-based practice? (1/208)

Although the use of chest drains is common in medicine, there appear to be wide variations in practice. A survey was therefore conducted to establish the current status of chest drain management in the Northwest region. A questionnaire targeted consultants practising in the specialties of chest medicine, general surgery, accident & emergency and cardiothoracic surgery. The questionnaire consisted of five sections encompassing aspects of the insertion, day-to-day care and removal of chest drains. With an overall response rate of 75.3% (110/146), important variations in every major aspect of the practice of chest drains were found between the specialties and to a large extent within each specialty. We have made a number of recommendations which aim to encourage good practice and reduce unnecessary complications, including the adoption of standardised protocols for inserting and managing chest drains.  (+info)

Management of spontaneous pneumothorax-a Welsh survey. (2/208)

The authors sought to determine to what degree current practice by hospital physicians and accident and emergency (A&E) departments in Wales conformed to the British Thoracic Society's guidelines for the management of spontaneous pneumothorax. Questionnaires were posted to all consultants involved in emergency medical admissions in Wales (149 consultant physicians and 23 A&E consultants) of whom 101 (59%) replied. Only 45% used the classification, "small, moderate, or complete" to describe the size of pneumothorax. Just 44% would do as recommended by the British Thoracic Society and discharge an asymptomatic patient with a primary pneumothorax and 34% would discharge a patient with a primary pneumothorax after successful aspiration. Only 20% were prepared to try aspiration initially for a secondary pneumothorax with a complete lung collapse. Thirty four per cent would follow the recommendation to remove a chest drain without prior clamping of the tube 24 hours after bubbling had stopped. In the event of a persistent air leak 69% would refer patients or seek a specialist opinion. Physicians with an interest in respiratory medicine tolerated persistent air leaks for significantly longer than did non-respiratory physicians (median of 7 v 5 days, p=0.001). The survey indicates that fewer than expected consultant physicians and A&E consultants in Wales manage spontaneous pneumothoraces in the way recommended by the guidelines. Physicians with an interest in respiratory medicine tended to comply with these guidelines more than general physicians with interests other than respiratory medicine or A&E consultants but the trend was not significant at the 5% level. It is felt that the guidelines should be disseminated more widely, ensuring that emergency admissions units and A&E departments have copies on display or easily accessible, and that they could be expanded to cover other aspects such as timing for surgery.  (+info)

Comparison of the effectiveness of some pleural sclerosing agents used for control of effusions in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a review of 117 cases. (3/208)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Management of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has been an important clinical issue regardless of the treatment modality employed. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of oxytetracycline (OT), Corynebacterium parvum (CP), and nitrogen mustard (NM) in the management of pleural effusion associated with MPM. METHODS: One hundred and seventeen patients who had stage-2 MPM or over according to the Butchart staging system and unilateral or bilateral pleural effusion took part in the study. The patients received either OT (35 mg/kg), CP (7 mg), or NM (0.4 mg/kg) through a chest tube for pleurodesis. The association between several clinical parameters and patient survival was also investigated. RESULTS: OT was applied to 59, CP to 29 and NM to 29 cases. A statistical analysis of the results obtained by these agents have demonstrated that OT (30 days, 81%; 90 days, 76.2%) and CP (30 days, 86.2%; 90 days, 79.3%) led to a significantly higher rate of successful pleurodesis as compared to NM (30 days, 48.2%; 90 days, 41.3%; p <0.05). Although the procedure was generally well tolerated by the patients, the NM-treated group experienced significantly more nausea-vomiting (46.1%) and hypotension (35.8%) compared to patients who received OT (nausea-vomiting and hypotension 4.3%; p < 0.001) and CP (nausea-vomiting and hypotension 5.1%; p < 0.001). Furthermore, we found that thrombocytosis, chest pain and weight loss were significantly associated with poor prognosis, whereas epithelial type had a positive effect on survival. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that OT and CP may be used as effective sclerosing agents for pleurodesis in the control of pleural effusions associated with MPM, without major side effects.  (+info)

Spontaneous pneumothorax: pragmatic management and long-term outcome. (4/208)

We prospectively considered 65 patients admitted for a spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) to describe the pragmatic management of SP, the first recurrence-free interval after medical therapeutic procedure and to specify the first recurrence risk factors over a 7-year period in these patients treated medically. The treatment options were observation alone (9%), needle aspiration (6%), small calibre chest tube (Pleurocatheter) drainage (28%) or thoracic tube drainage (49%), and pleurodesis with video-assisted thoracic surgery procedure (8%). Duration of the drainage and length of hospital stay were shorter in the Pleurocatheter group than in the thoracic tube group (P < 0.01). Among the 47 patients (72%) with a first SP and treated medically, nine patients (19%) had a first homolateral recurrence (FHR) during a mean follow-up of 84+/-13 months. Recurrence-free intervals ranged from 1 to 24 months (mean +/- SD: 9.3+/-8.4 months). FHR cases were more frequent in the Pleurocatheter group (P < 0 04). Analysis of potential risk factors showed that the patient's height and a previous homolateral SP episode are independent recurrence risk factors.  (+info)

A review of "chest tubes" during donor care and after transplantation. (5/208)

Thoracostomy tubes, also called chest tubes, are commonly present after transplantation or during donor care. The function of the thoracostomy tube is to provide a conduit for transporting fluid, gas, or blood from the pleural cavity to an attached drainage unit. Malfunction of the tube or parts of the unit assembly may lead to serious consequences and jeopardize transplant recipient recovery or donor organs. This review discusses the components of the thoracostomy tube and drainage unit assembly, normal operation, routine evaluation, and common problems that the organ procurement or transplantation coordinator may need to anticipate or treat.  (+info)

Talcage by medical thoracoscopy for primary spontaneous pneumothorax is more cost-effective than drainage: a randomised study. (6/208)

Simple thoracoscopic talcage (TT) is a safe and effective treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). However, its efficacy has not previously been estimated in comparison with standard conservative therapy (pleural drainage (PD)). In this prospective randomised comparison of two well-established procedures of treating PSP requiring at least a chest tube, cost-effectiveness, safety and pain control was evaluated in 108 patients with PSP (61 TT and 47 PD). Patients in both groups had comparable clinical characteristics. Drainage and hospitalisation duration were similar in TT and PD patients. There were no complications in either group. The immediate success rate was different: after prolonged drainage (>7 days), 10 out of 47 PD patients, but only 1 out of 61 TT patients required a TT as a second procedure. Total costs of hospitalisation including any treatment procedure were not significantly different between TT and PD patients. Pain, measured daily by visual analogue scales, was statistically higher during the first 3 days in TT patients but not in those patients receiving opiates. One month after leaving hospital, there was no significant difference in residual pain or full working ability: 20 out of 58 (34%) versus 10 out of 47 (21%) and 36 out of 61 (59%) versus 26 out of 39 (67%) in TT versus PD groups, respectively. After 5 yrs of follow-up, there had been only three out of 59 (5%) recurrences of pneumothorax after TT, but 16 out of 47 (34%) after conservative treatment by PD. Cost calculation favoured TT pleurodesis especially with regard to recurrences. In conclusion, thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis under local anaesthesia is superior to conservative treatment by chest tube drainage in cases of primary spontaneous pneumothorax that fail simple aspiration, provided there is efficient control of pain by opioids.  (+info)

AIDS-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia with disappearance of cystic lesions after treatment. (7/208)

A 21-year-old hemophiliac with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was admitted to our hospital because of bilateral pneumothoraces associated with Pneumocysis carinii pneumonia (PCP). He underwent chest tube drainages and intravenous pentamidine therapy, resulting in clinical improvement. Two months after treatment for PCP, cystic lesions that had existed before treatment disappeared on chest computed tomography. We concluded that Pneumocystis carinii infection might be associated with lung destruction and cyst formation, and that inflammatory exudates in the small bronchioles might act as a ball-valve with subsequent spontaneous pneumothoraces.  (+info)

Towards evidence based emergency medicine: best BETs from Manchester Royal Infirmary. Antibiotics in patients with isolated chest trauma requiring chest drains. (8/208)

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether the administration of antibiotics reduces the incidence of intrathoracic infection in patients who have had a chest drain inserted after trauma. Altogether 321 papers were found using the reported search, of which two presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.  (+info)