This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Juan J. Fibla Laureano Molins Carlos Simon Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fibla, J. J. Articles by Vidal, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fibla, J. J. Articles by Vidal, G. Related Collections Lung - other Minimally invasive surgery Related Article

Early removal of chest drainage after videothoracoscopic lung biopsy

Sagrat Cor University Hospital, Thoracic Surgery Department, Viladomat 288, 08029 Barcelona, Spain

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 4948922; fax: +34 93 4052641.

E-mail address: juanjofibla{at}hotmail.com (J.J. Fibla).

We report our experience with a policy of early chest tube removal after video-assisted thoracic surgical lung biopsy (VATS-LB) in 146 patients. The chest tube (24F) was removed if four conditions were met: immediate extubation, complete expansion of the lung, drainage <100 ml/h and absence of an air leak. VATS-LB was performed on 160 patients. In 146 (91.2%) early chest tube removal was feasible. Fourteen (8.8%) were too ill to be included in this program. The chest tube was removed in 135 patients (92.4%) less than one hour after. In nine patients (6.2%) it was removed 4–24 h after, due to initial air-leak. In only two cases (1.4%) was the tube removed later. Median hospital stay was 1.2 days (range: 0–7). There were 32 outpatient procedures since 2001 (50% of VATS-LB in this period). Postoperative hemothorax occurred in two patients (1.4%) and pneumothorax in three (2.0%). Three of the five required readmission (2%). Three patients died in the hospital due to the progression of their illness. In the absence of postoperative air-leak, early chest tube removal after VATS-LB appears to be safe, reduces hospital stay and allows an outpatient procedure in selected cases.

Key Words: Biopsy; Endoscopy; Lung pathology; Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS)

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