title: Use of a thin retrocardial drain to prevent pericardial effusion.
abstract: A thin (3.125 mm) drain was placed retrocardially in 21 patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures and its efficacy in the prevention of the formation of pericardial effusions was determined with two-dimensional echocardiography. Some 29 patients without such a drain acted as controls. No effusions developed in patients with a retrocardial drain. Nine of 29 (31%) patients without a retrocardial drain had an effusion of 7-18 mm. The effusions were most commonly found behind the left ventricle. Using Fisher's exact test as a contingency table, the results were significant (P = 0.05). Insertion of a thin retrocardial drain may prevent the incidence of pericardial effusions in the early postoperative period and is not associated with local complications.
authors.affiliation: Research Department of Surgery, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pirk
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hronek
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D004322:Drainage / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004452:Echocardiography; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000517:prevention & control*