title: Postoperative chest tube management: snapshot of German diversity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The management of chest tubes is one of the most critical aspects in patient care in thoracic surgery, and no consensus exists regarding the ideal chest tube management strategy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chest tube management protocols and their effects on chest tube therapy were compared at four German specialist thoracic surgery units. Altogether, 79 patients were stratified for underlying disease and type of surgery. A digital chest drainage system was applied to objectify the presence of air leakages.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In our analysis, the average length of drainage therapy was 4.9 ± 2.8 days. Different chest tube management protocols resulted in a significant degree of scatter between units (P = 0.0348). Higher arbitrary postoperative suction levels (4 kPa) resulted in earlier chest tube removal than lower suction levels (2 kPa) (4.2 ± 2.4 vs 5.4 ± 3.0 days, P = 0.06). Patient discharge following chest tube removal was delayed on average by 3.2 ± 2.9 days. This delay was not correlated with the previous duration of chest tube therapy (Spearman's ρ=-0.15, P = 0.25) in contrast to the total length of hospital stay (ρ = 0.59, P < 0.001).
authors: Clinic for Thoracic Surgery,  Klinikum Bremen Ost, Bremen,  Germany.
authors: Albert
authors: A
authors: Linder
authors: Clemens
authors: C
authors: Ertner
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Steger
authors: Antje
authors: A
authors: Messerschmidt
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Merk
authors: Inez
authors: I
authors: Cregan
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Timm
authors: Thorsten
authors: T
authors: Walles
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015505:Chest Tubes; D020878:Device Removal; D004322:Drainage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011182:Postoperative Care; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors