ArticleJTCVS open2023
Are chest drains routinely required after thoracic surgery? A drainology study of on-table chest-drain removals.
Article in JTCVS open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- From tradition to evidence: a narrative review for standardizing chest tube management after anatomic lung resection.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Endoluminal approaches to postoperative air leaks.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- NODRAIN study protocol: a non-interventional, prospective study for evaluating the effectiveness of intraoperative ventilation for the prediction of postoperative air leak in major pulmonary resections by conventional or robotic thoracoscopy.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- The future of lung cancer surgery lies between innovations: synergy across the perioperative ERATS pathway.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- How soon should we remove a chest drain following anatomic lung resection?European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery · 2025Review
- Long-term outcomes of drainless anatomical lung resection surgery for pulmonary malignancies.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2025Article
- Drainology: Leveraging research in chest-drain management to enhance recovery after cardiothoracic surgery.JTCVS techniques · 2024Article
- Zero-leak prediction during major lung resection aiming for minimal chest drainage duration: a retrospective analysis.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: Advances in perioperative management for thoracic surgery have accelerated the postoperative recovery of patients by decreasing postoperative pain and the incidence of complications. We aimed to study whether it's safe to remove chest drains on table in selected cases. Methods: This was a 5-year retrospective analysis of protocolized chest-drain removal on the operating table. The chest drain was removed in patients undergoing sublobar/wedge lung resection and other minor thoracic procedure (pleural biopsy, mediastinal mass biopsy/resection) via a thoracoscopic approach (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery). Chest drains were removed at the end of the operation if air leak as documented by the digital drain was less than 20 mL/min. Outcome data on postdrain removal pneumothorax, effusion, and need for further intervention were obtained by reviewing the postoperative chest films, all reported by a radiologist. Results: Between 2016 and 2021, 107 patients underwent drain removal in theater. Mean age (standard deviation) was 58 (17) years and 54 (50.5%) were male. Postdrain removal pneumothorax occurred in 22 patients (21%), pleural effusion in 6 (5.6%), and 21 of 22 postoperative pneumothoraces were managed conservatively without reinsertion of chest drain. As it is our standard policy to leave no pneumothorax in patients undergoing surgical management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax, only 1 such patient (0.9%) had a drain reinserted as a result. The median (interquartile) length of hospital stay was 1 day (1-2), and 14 patients (13%) were discharged on surgery day. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that on table chest-drain removal in selected cases is safe and repeatable using a digital drain, challenging the practice of routine drain insertion after thoracic surgery.
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