title: Does more than a single chest tube for mediastinal drainage affect outcomes after cardiac surgery?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The use of 1 or more mediastinal chest tubes has traditionally been routine for all cardiac surgery procedures to deal with bleeding. However, it remains unproven whether multiple chest tubes offer a benefit over a single chest tube.
  
  
  METHODS
  All consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery (2005-2010) received at least 1 chest tube at the time of surgery based on surgeon preference. Patients were grouped into those receiving a single chest tube (SCT) and those receiving multiple chest tubes (MCT). The primary outcome was return to the operating room for bleeding or tamponade.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 5698 consecutive patients were assigned to 2 groups: 3045 to the SCT and 2653 to the MCT group. Patients in the SCT group were older, more often female and less likely to undergo isolated coronary artery bypass graft than those in the MCT group. Unadjusted outcomes for SCT and MCT, respectively, were return to the operating room for bleeding or tamponade (4.7% v. 5.0%; p = 0.50), intensive care unit stay longer than 48 hours (25.5% v. 27.9%; p = 0.041, postoperative stay > 9 days (31.5% v. 33.1%; p = 0.20) and mortality (3.8% v. 4.6%; p = 0.16). Logistic regression analysis, adjusted for clinical differences between groups, showed that the number of chest tubes was not associated with return to the operating room for bleeding or tamponade.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of multiple mediastinal chest tubes after cardiac surgery confers no advantage over a single chest tube in preventing return to the operating room for bleeding or tamponade.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiac Surgery, QEII Health Science Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: The Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiac Surgery, QEII Health Science Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Buth
authors.affiliation: The Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiac Surgery, QEII Health Science Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
authors.forename: Gregory M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.affiliation: The Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiac Surgery, QEII Health Science Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
authors.forename: Jean-Francois
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Légaré
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D015505:Chest Tubes; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008482:Mediastinum; D008875:Middle Aged; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies