Impact of a standardized protocol for chest tube management after VATS pulmonary resections on post-operative outcomes and complications

• Published in: Updates in surgery 2024-08, Vol.76 (4), p.1493-1500
• Main Authors: Comacchio, Giovanni M., Mammana, Marco, Cannone, Giorgio, Zambello, Giovanni, Silvestrin, Stefano, Rebusso, Alessandro, Nicotra, Samuele, Rea, Federico
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Chest Tubes; Clinical Protocols; Device Removal - methods; Female; Humans; Length of Stay; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Pneumonectomy - adverse effects; Pneumonectomy - methods; Postoperative Complications - prevention & control; Retrospective Studies; Surgery; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted - methods; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 2038-131X; 2038-3312; 2038-3312
• DOI: 10.1007/s13304-023-01704-3

Chest tube management represents a major issue after lung surgery as no protocol is widely accepted and tube management is generally based on local or personal habits. Aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a standardized protocol for chest tube management after pulmonary resections on the post-operative outcomes. We performed a single center retrospective analysis of all adult patients undergoing thoracoscopic pulmonary resection from January 2020 to December 2021. Starting from January 2021 a standardized protocol of chest tube management was applied after all procedures. Patients were divided into two groups according to the chest tube management strategy. he two groups had similar pre-operative characteristics and the extent of lung resection was comparable. Intervention group had significantly shorter time to chest tube removal (median 1 vs 3 days, p