Tamponade relief by active clearance of chest tubes

Purpose. Chest tubes are used in every case of cardiac surgery to evacuate shed blood
from around the heart and lungs. Chest tubes can become partially or totally occluded,
leading to tamponade. The purpose of this article is to discuss a novel method of maintaining
chest tube patency in the early recovery after cardiothoracic surgery.
Description. The PleuraFlow Active Clearance Technology is a system to prevent chest
tube clogging that can be used to help routinely maintain chest tube patency at the bedside
in the intensive care unit.
Evaluation. A patient exhibited physiologic tamponade that was confirmed by transthoracic
echocardiography. The chest tube was successfully reopened by actively clearing
the chest tube using Active Clearance Technology, resulting in resolution of the tamponade.
Conclusions. The present study reports the case of a patient with massive postoperative
pericardial effusion with tamponade, successfully managed by active clearance chest tube.
Further studies will help define the role for this technology in routine cardiac surgery.