title: Comparison of methods for placing and managing a silastic drain after pulmonary resection.
abstract: We have been using a silastic drain [Blake drain (BD)] after pulmonary resection by different placement methods and reviewed the daily amount of drainage in each patient. A 19-Fr BD was placed for each of 110 patients. First, a drain was inserted from the anterior chest wall and the tip reached the dorsal part of the diaphragm [anterior-to-posterior (AP)]. For the others [posterior-to-anterior (PA); n=37], we inserted a drain from the lower intercostal space, turned it around the apex and placed its tip in the lower front. Patients in the AP group included those placed under a water seal (AP-WS; n=43) or suction (AP-SC; n=30). The reference group consisted of 68 patients with a 32-Fr plastic drain during the same period [conventional drains (CD)]. The amount of drainage on the day of surgery in the PA group was significantly higher than that in the AP-WS group (P<0.0001) and similar to that in the CD group (P=0.54). The mean amount of drainage on postoperative day 1 and total amounts accumulating during drain placement showed no significant differences between the four groups. A BD placed using a PA approach with suction might be efficient for drainage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Japan. tfukui@aichi-cc.jp
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakakura
authors.forename: Rei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Shunzo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatooka
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitsudomi
mesh_terms: D015505:Chest Tubes; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D004322:Drainage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018583:Pliability; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013396:Suction; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; C013830:baysilon