Chest drainage systems in use

Charalambos Zisis; Katerina Tsirgogianni; George Lazaridis; Sofia Lampaki; Sofia Baka; Ioannis Mpoukovinas; Vasilis Karavasilis; Ioannis Kioumis; Georgia Pitsiou; Nikolaos Katsikogiannis; Kosmas Tsakiridis; Aggeliki Rapti; Georgia Trakada; Ilias Karapantzos; Chrysanthi Karapantzou; Athanasios Zissimopoulos; Konstantinos Zarogoulidis; Paul Zarogoulidis

doi:10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.02.09

Chest drainage systems in use

Ann Transl Med. 2015 Mar;3(3):43. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.02.09.

Authors

Charalambos Zisis¹, Katerina Tsirgogianni¹, George Lazaridis¹, Sofia Lampaki¹, Sofia Baka¹, Ioannis Mpoukovinas¹, Vasilis Karavasilis¹, Ioannis Kioumis¹, Georgia Pitsiou¹, Nikolaos Katsikogiannis¹, Kosmas Tsakiridis¹, Aggeliki Rapti¹, Georgia Trakada¹, Ilias Karapantzos¹, Chrysanthi Karapantzou¹, Athanasios Zissimopoulos¹, Konstantinos Zarogoulidis¹, Paul Zarogoulidis¹

Affiliation

¹ 1 Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, "Evangelismos" Hospital, Athens, Greece ; 2 Pulmonary-Oncology, "G. Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 3 Department of Medical Oncology, Aristotle University School of Medicine, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 4 Oncology Department, "Interbalkan" European Medical Center, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 5 Oncology Department, "BioMedicine" Private Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 6 Surgery Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece ; 7 Thoracic Surgery Department, "Saint Luke" Private Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 8 2nd Pulmonary Clinic of "Sotiria" Hospital, Athens, Greece ; 9 Pulmonary Laboratory, Alexandra Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece ; 10 Ear, Nose and Throat, "Saint Luke" Private Hospital, Panorama, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 11 Nuclear Medicine Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.

PMID: 25815304
PMCID: PMC4356865
DOI: 10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.02.09

Abstract

A chest tube is a flexible plastic tube that is inserted through the chest wall and into the pleural space or mediastinum. It is used to remove air in the case of pneumothorax or fluid such as in the case of pleural effusion, blood, chyle, or pus when empyema occurs from the intrathoracic space. It is also known as a Bülau drain or an intercostal catheter. Insertion of chest tubes is widely performed by radiologists, pulmonary physicians and thoracic surgeons. Large catheters or small catheters are used based on each situation that the medical doctor encounters. In the current review we will focus on the chest drain systems that are in use.

Keywords: Bülau; Chest drainage unit; air leak; chest drainage system; digital suction; pneumothorax.