Chest tubes are needed occasionally to help manage chest injuries. How do you decide when they are ready for removal?
Unfortunately, the literature is not very helpful in answering this question. To come up with a uniform way of pulling them, our group looked at any existing literature and then filled in the (many) blanks, negotiating criteria that we could all live with. We came up with the following.
Removal criteria:
No (or a minimal, stable) residual pneumothorax
No air leak
Less than 150cc drainage over the last 3 shifts. We do not use daily volumes, as it may delay the removal sequence. We have moved away from the “only pull tubes on the day shift” mentality. Once the criteria are met, we begin the removal sequence, even in the evening or at night. This typically shaves half a day from the hospital stay.
Removal sequence:
Has the patient ever had an air leak? If so, they are placed on water seal for 6 hours and a followup AP or PA view chest x-ray is obtained. If no pneumothorax is seen, proceed to the next step.
Pull the tube. See tomorrow’s blog for a video on how to do it.
Obtain a followup AP or PA view chest x-ray in 6 hours.
If no recurrent pneumothorax, send the patient home! (if appropriate)
Pneumothorax is typically diagnosed radiographically. Significant pneumothoraces show up on chest xray, and even small ones can be demonstrated with CT.
Typically, a known pneumothorax is followed with serial chest xrays. If patient condition permits, these should be performed using the classic technique (upright, PA, tube 72″ away). Unfortunately, physicians are used to ordering the chest xray as a bundle of both the PA and lateral views.
The lateral chest xray adds absolutely no useful information. The shoulder structures are in the way, and they obstruct a clear view of the lung apices, which is where the money is for detecting a simple pneumothorax. The xray below is of a patient with a small apical pneumothorax. There is no evidence of it on this lateral view.
Bottom line: only order PA views (or AP views in patients who can’t stand up) to follow simple pneumothoraces. Don’t fall into the trap of automatically ordering the lateral view as well!
Autotransfusing blood that has been shed from the chest tube is an easy way to resuscitate trauma patients with significant hemorrhage from the chest. Plus, it’s usually not contaminated from bowel injury and it doesn’t need any fancy equipment to prepare it for infusion.
It looks like fresh whole blood in the collection system. But is it? A prospective study of 22 patients was carried out to answer this question. A blood sample from the collection system of trauma patients with more than 50 cc of blood loss in 4 hours was analyzed for hematology, electrolyte and coagulation profiles.
The authors found that:
The hemoglobin and hematocrit from the chest tube were lower than venous blood (Hgb by about 2 grams, Hct by 7.5%)
Platelet count was very low in chest tube blood
Potassium was higher (4.9 mmol/L), but not dangerously so
INR, PTT, TT, Factor V and fibrinogen were unmeasurable
Bottom line: Although shed blood from the chest looks like whole blood, it’s missing key coagulation factors and will not clot. Reinfusing it will boost oxygen carrying capacity, but it won’t help with clotting. You may use it as part of your massive transfusion protocol, but don’t forget to give plasma and platelets according to protocol. This also explains why you don’t need to add an anticoagulant to the autotransfusion unit prior to collecting or giving the shed blood!
Reference: Autotransfusion of hemothorax blood in trauma patients: is it the same as fresh whole blood? Am J Surg 202(6):817-822, 2011.
This unit has been knocked over. Note the blood in both collection columns on the right. In this case, the water seal and pressure chambers have also been compromised (area on the left).
Collection systems that have been knocked over frequently malfunction and should be changed immediately! (It’s also impossible to accurately measure tube output after this happens)
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