Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.  2006 May;39(5):394-398.

Clinical Efficacy of 7-French Catheter for Initial Treatment of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax

• Ryu KM
• Jung ES
• Cho SK
• Sung SW
• Jheon S

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Goal of the initial treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax is re-expansion of the lung by evacuation of air from pleural space. Authors thought small caliber catheter could reach to this goal instead of conventional large bore chest tube. This retrospective study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of 7-French (Fr) catheter for the initial treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between May 2003 and April 2005, 111 patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax were managed with tube drainage; 7 Fr catheter for 86 patients and 24-French chest tube for 25 patients. We analyzed catheter indwelling time, use of analgesics, re-expansion of the lung, and catheter related problems by medical records. RESULT: Mean catheter indwelling time was 2.4+/-1.1 days in 7 Fr group and 2.3+/-1.3 days in chest tube group (p>0.05). All patients with 24 Fr catheter needed analgesics injection but never in 7Fr group. Complete re-expansion of the lung based on plane chest radiograph was obtained in 77% of 7 Fr group. The problem related with 7 Fr catheter was kinking, which showed in 5.6%.
CONCLUSION
Application of the 7 Fr catheter for initial management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax was as effective as 24 Fr catheter.

Keyword

Pneumothorax; Catheter

MeSH Terms

Analgesics
Catheters*
Chest Tubes
Drainage
Humans
Lung
Medical Records
Pneumothorax*
Radiography, Thoracic
Retrospective Studies
Analgesics