Abstract
Ideal size tube thoracostomy in management of hemothorax related to blunt and penetrating trauma is debated. Small-bore or large-bore catheters are in use for management of hemothorax. There are no consensus guidelines or high-level data to validate smaller bore tube thoracostomy use over larger bore thoracostomies. Studies utilizing small-bore tube thoracostomies are noted to be used in patients with less severity of injuries and in later stages of injury. There is currently no consensus on the size of tube thoracostomy placement, though larger bore tube thoracostomies are more frequently used in the emergent setting to evacuate hemothoraces. We reviewed the current literature to evaluate the efficacy of small- and large-bore chest tubes to adequately evacuate a hemothorax during the initial placement or for a retained hemothorax.
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Ratnasekera, A., Ferrada, P. (2022). Optimal Chest Tube Size for Hemothorax Evacuation. In: Wilson, K., Rogers, S.O. (eds) Difficult Decisions in Trauma Surgery. Difficult Decisions in Surgery: An Evidence-Based Approach. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81667-4_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81667-4_26
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