Spanish Can you treat a traumatic hemothorax with a 14FR

Between July 2015 and September 2020, 119 patients with traumatic hemothorax were evaluated in a study comparing drainage methods.

56 patients received a percutaneous catheter and 63 received a large-bore chest tube.

Treatment failure was defined as the need for a second surgery after hemothorax drainage.

There were no significant differences in treatment failure rates between percutaneous catheter and large-bore chest tube groups.

There were no significant differences in hospital length of stay between the two drainage methods.

There were no significant differences in daily drainage volume between percutaneous catheters and chest tubes.

There were no significant differences in the number of days drains remained in place between the two groups.

Patients with percutaneous drains tolerated the procedure much better than those with large-bore chest tubes.

Traumatic hemothorax can be treated with a 14 French percutaneous catheter.