Pain reduction and occlusion prevention with novel thoracic catheter

Thoracic catheters are inserted into patients after thoracic surgery in order to facilitate the removal of fluid and/or air. Though their insertion is common practice, their use is plagued by complications including severe patient pain and occlusion, which can lead to adverse patient outcomes. In order to overcome these complications the authors developed a novel catheter. This design has the existing features of current thoracic catheters along with allowing for physician access in the pleural space. In order observe the occlusion prevention capabilities of this design, a Drain Test was conducted. It was determined the new design provided the same or better draining efficacy than the control. It was concluded from these preliminary studies that the design has potential, but prototype fabrication and further in vivo studies are necessary.