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
Case Reports
. 2016 Jul-Sep;19(3):545-8.
doi: 10.4103/0971-9784.185561.

Intercostal drainage tube or intracardiac drainage tube?

N Anitha  1 , S Ganesh Kamath  2 , Edison Khymdeit  1 , Manjunath Prabhu  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Intercostal drainage tube or intracardiac drainage tube?

N Anitha et al. Ann Card Anaesth. 2016 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Although insertion of chest drain tubes is a common medical practice, there are risks associated with this procedure, especially when inexperienced physicians perform it. Wrong insertion of the tube has been known to cause morbidity and occasional mortality. We report a case where the left ventricle was accidentally punctured leading to near-exsanguination. This report is to highlight the need for experienced physicians to supervise the procedure and train the younger physician in the safe performance of the procedure.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chest X-ray antero-posterior view revealing the chest tube direction toward the heart shift of mediastinum and haziness left chest
Figure 2
Figure 2
Computerized tomography with contrast, transverse section showing the leak from the left ventricle to subcutaneous tissue
Figure 3
Figure 3
Computerized tomography coronal section showing the leak from the left ventricle
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chest X-ray postero-anterior view postoperative before discharge
Figure 5
Figure 5
Safe triangle area
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kopec SE, Conlan AA, Irwin RS. Perforation of the right ventricle: A complication of blind placement of a chest tube into the postpneumonectomy space. Chest. 1998;114:1213–5. - PubMed
    1. Akram AR, Hartung TK. Intercostal chest drains: A wake-up call from the National Patient Safety Agency rapid response report. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2009;39:117–20.
    1. Abad C, Padrón A. Accidental perforation of the left ventricle with a chest draintube. Tex Heart Inst J. 2002;29:143. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bozzani A, Arici V, Bellinzona G, Pirrelli S, Forni E, Odero A. Iatrogenic pulmonary artery rupture due to chest-tube insertion. Tex Heart Inst J. 2010;37:732–3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Elsayed H, Roberts R, Emadi M, Whittle I, Shackcloth M. Chest drain insertion is not a harmless procedure – Are we doing it safely? Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2010;11:745–8. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources