The effectiveness of chest T-tube drainage in uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVES Uniportal incision located at 4th or 5th intercostal space represents a problem for the correct drainage of distal areas of pleural cavity. The T-shaped tube can drain both the extremities of pleural space. In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of T-chest tube compared to classic chest tube after uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery. METHODS We compared the effectiveness of T tube and classic 28 CH chest drainage after different surgical procedures in uniportal VATS: lobectomies, wedge resections, pleural and mediastinal biopsies. As primary end-points, drained effusion and evidence of pneumothorax at post-operative day 1, subcutaneous emphysema, tube kinking, obstruction and necessity of repositioning or post-operative thoracentesis were considered. Pain at 6 and 24 hours after surgery, pain at tube removal and mean hospitalization were analyzed as secondary end-points. RESULTS A total of 109 patients was selected for the study, 51 included to the T-tube group while the other 58 ones to the control group with classic drainage. Patients with T-tube showed a significantly lower rate of pneumothorax (29.4% vs 63.8%; p < 0.001), tube kinking (5.9% vs 27.6%; p = 0.003) and need of repositioning (2.0% vs 12.1%; p = 0.043). No significant results were obtained in subcutaneous emphysema (p = 0.26), tube obstruction (p = 0.32), drained effusion (p = 0.11) and need of post-operative thoracentesis (p = 0.18). Patients with T-tube complained of less pain 6 hours after surgery (p < 0.001). Conversely, T-tube removal was reported to be more painful (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Chest T-tube can achieve significantly lower rate of postoperative pneumothorax, kinking and repositioning with less pain 6 hours after surgery compared to classic tube.