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Reduction in drain-related adverse events using the barbed suture method for chest tube wound closure

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Abstract

Objective

A chest tube is usually placed in patients undergoing general thoracic surgery. Although the barbed suture method has been introduced for chest tube wound closure, its superiority to the conventional suture methods for drain management remains unclear. The study aimed to determine whether the barbed suture method could reduce drain-related adverse events compared to the conventional method.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent general thoracic surgery between January 2021 and December 2022, 1 year before and after the introduction of the barbed suture method at our institution. Patients who underwent the barbed suture or conventional method were included. Univariate and multivariate analyses of drain-related adverse events were performed.

Results

Of the 250 participants, 110 and 140 underwent the barbed suture method and conventional suture method, respectively. The univariate analysis showed that a higher body mass index, preoperative malignant diagnosis, lobectomy, longer operative time, larger tube size, longer chest drainage duration, surgical complications, and conventional method were risk factors for drain-related adverse events. The multivariate analysis showed that the barbed suture method was a protective factor against drain-related adverse events (odds ratio 0.267; 95% confidence interval 0.103–0.691; P = 0.007).

Conclusions

The barbed suture method could reduce drain-related adverse events compared to the conventional method. Therefore, it might be a potential standard method for chest tube wound closure in patients undergoing general thoracic surgery.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Editage for the English language review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, The Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital, 163-1 Kashiwashita, Kashiwashi, Chiba, 277-8567, Japan

    Shohei Mori, Makoto Odaka, Yu Suyama, Rintaro Shigemori & Naoki Toya

  2. Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishishinbashi, Minatoku, Tokyo, 105-0003, Japan

    Yo Tsukamoto, Maki Oh & Takashi Ohtsuka

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  1. Shohei Mori
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  2. Makoto Odaka
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  3. Yu Suyama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shohei Mori.

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Conflict of interest

Shohei Mori received a research grant from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI [grant number 21K16525]; Makoto Odaka, Yu Suyama, Yo Tsukamoto, Maki Oh, Rintaro Shigemori, Naoki Toya, and Takashi Ohtsuka have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Online Resource 1 Barbed suture method for chest tube wound closure (MPEG 46668 kb)

Online Resource 2 The end of the barbed suture is simply pulled to close the defect at the time of chest tube removal (MPEG 22580 kb)

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Mori, S., Odaka, M., Suyama, Y. et al. Reduction in drain-related adverse events using the barbed suture method for chest tube wound closure. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-023-02002-w

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