Chest Tube Drainage With Under Water Seal Versus Addition Of Negative Pleural Suction In Chest Trauma Patients

Traumas are the leading cause of death in the first four decades of life and are mostly caused by traffic accidents. Thoracic traumas might lead to severe consequences, even though less than 50% of them required a surgical revision. Thoracic traumas can be divided in blunt or penetrating, according to the presence of open wound in the chest. Blunt traumas are the most frequent type of chest trauma with or without rib fractures that might be associated with haemothorax, pneumothorax or haemopneumothorax that are the most typical lesions or laceration.

Pleural chest tubes are used to reestablish negative intrathoracic pressure after disruption of the pleural space. Chest tube positioning is considered necessary in case of a pleural disruption with pneumothorax; intrapleural bleeding causing haemothorax; or in case of pneumo-haemothorax .

The management of pleural chest tubes with primarily under water seal or added suction is the subject of debate, and the benefits of one versus the other in regards to duration of air leak, amount of time the chest tube is in place, length of hospital stay and incidence of complications are unclear.

All of the previous made us interesting to examine the effect of under water seal alone of chest tube in one groups of trauma patients and the effect of both under water seal and suction in other group, the investigators think that power of suction will give the patient better results with less complications and excellent immediate relief with good quality of life, rapid return to normal life .