Once a chest tube is in, people tend to switch off, thinking the hardest part is done, and I often see people grab a roll of Sleek tape and wrap it firmly around the connection between the chest tube and the chest drain tubing. The risk with this is that the tubing can disconnect under the tape without being noticed, leading to entrainment of air, and a recurrence of the pneumothorax. The worst case scenario is that the leak will go un-detected and the patient will develop a tension pneumothorax, and the cause won’t be immediately evident. So here’s trauma tip: secure the connection while leaving both ends of both tubes and the connector in between visible. How? Watch the video and find out!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-pdB9qLaXU&feature=youtu.be
Posted in Trauma Education, Trauma Procedures, Trauma Tips, Video
