Pleural drainage: an evolving area
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Correspondence: Martin G Kelly mgkelly@ihug.co.nz
Senior Registrar, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
Critical Care 2004, 8:138 doi:10.1186/cc2458
Published: 26 January 2004First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
I read with interest the paper by Singh and coworkers on the subject of pleural drainage [1]. In the respiratory field, this is a hot topic and guidelines were recently published [2]. Singh and coworkers used a 16-French gauge catheter, which is broadly in agreement with the British Thoracic Society guidelines (and this is what we sometimes use in our hospital). However, the British Thoracic Society guidelines [2] do advocate a slightly smaller gauge. The move is certainly away from large bore drains, and I would strongly support this.