Challenging the Paradigm of Persistent Air Leak: Are We Prolonging the Problem?
Walker SP., Hallifax R., Rahman NM., Maskell NA.
You are managing a patient with a spontaneous pneumothorax and a chest drain in situ, with evidence of ongoing air leak on the fifth day post insertion. You pause to consider this case of persistent air leak: is this chest drain effectively managing the air escaping through the defect in the patients visceral pleural or is it in fact exacerbating an air leak that would have settled more quickly without intervention?