Evaluation of Fluid Output Threshold for Safe Chest Tube Removal - A Potential Way to Decrease Length of Stay in Hospital and to Improve Postoperative Care After Lung Surgery?

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Pleural Effusion Recurrence; Pulmonary Resection; Chest Tube Management
• Interventions: Procedure: Traditional; Procedure: Test

• Registration Number: NCT03093610
• Lead Sponsor: Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

Brief Summary

Previous studies have shown that the removal of the chest tube after lung surgery significantly improves pain symptoms and lung function. The criteria for chest tube removal still remain vague in modern thoracic surgery and rely on personal experience instead of evidence-based criteria. Every hospital has its own traditional standard fluid threshold and believes in that without adapting and comparing it not even after introduction of newer and more minimal-invasive operation technique. According to literature the traditional fluid threshold is varying from 100 to 500 or even more millilitre in 24 hours. Since pleural fluid resorption is proportional to body weight the investigators believe that a body weight related approach of chest tube management would improve safety and would allow an earlier chest tube removal without a higher rate of complication. In this way the investigators believe in improving pain management and in achieving earlier discharge of the patient.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-03-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-03-22
• Study First Posted: 2017-03-28
• Study Start: 2019-05-31
• Primary Completion: 2022-03-10
• Study Completion: 2022-03-30
• Status Verified: 2022-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-12-19
• Last Update Posted: 2022-12-20

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 337

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Traditional	Traditional	The chest tube in the traditional Group will be managed according to the current Guidelines of the investigators' department.
Test group	Test	The chest tube in the "Test Group" will constitute the experimental Group. The chest tube will be removed when the fluid production over 24h has reached a weight related threshold.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of recurrent pleural effusions after chest tube removal	up to 6 weeks postoperative	Evaluation of recurrent pleural effusion after chest tube removal
Pain scores (VAS-Score)	postoperative Period until 3 hours after Chest tube removal	Evaluation of Pain Scores after Chest tube removal
Time Point of chest tube removal	Postoperative, expected to be up to 1 week after surgery	postoperative day of chest tube removal

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient discharge	At time of discharge, on average 4-7 days	Time Point of Patient discharge

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Bern University Hospital; 🇨🇭 Bern, Switzerland