Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Mar;3(3):43.
doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.02.09.

Chest drainage systems in use

Charalambos Zisis  1 , Katerina Tsirgogianni  1 , George Lazaridis  1 , Sofia Lampaki  1 , Sofia Baka  1 , Ioannis Mpoukovinas  1 , Vasilis Karavasilis  1 , Ioannis Kioumis  1 , Georgia Pitsiou  1 , Nikolaos Katsikogiannis  1 , Kosmas Tsakiridis  1 , Aggeliki Rapti  1 , Georgia Trakada  1 , Ilias Karapantzos  1 , Chrysanthi Karapantzou  1 , Athanasios Zissimopoulos  1 , Konstantinos Zarogoulidis  1 , Paul Zarogoulidis  1
Affiliations

Chest drainage systems in use

Charalambos Zisis et al. Ann Transl Med. 2015 Mar.

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) One-bottle chest drainage system; (B) two-bottle chest drainage system; (C) three-bottle chest drainage system (see details in the text).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Air leak meter [1-5] provides a way to “measure” the leak and monitor over time.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Heimlich valve.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Digital thoracic drainage (Thopaz-Medela).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Light RW. eds. Pleural diseases. 3rd Edition. Williams & Wilkins, 1995:330-2.
    1. Coughlin SM, Emmerton-Coughlin HM, Malthaner R. Management of chest tubes after pulmonary resection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Can J Surg 2012;55:264-70. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cerfolio RJ. Recent advances in the treatment of air leaks. Curr Opin Pulm Med 2005;11:319-23. - PubMed
    1. Cerfolio RJ, Bass C, Katholi CR. Prospective randomized trial compares suction versus water seal for air leaks. Ann Thorac Surg 2001;71:1613-7. - PubMed
    1. Cerfolio RJ, Bryant AS, Singh S, et al. The management of chest tubes in patients with a pneumothorax and an air leak after pulmonary resection. Chest 2005;128:816-20. - PubMed