Surgical Management of Prolonged Air Leak in Patients with Underlying Emphysema

摘要: Prolonged air leak is one of the most common post-operative complications encountered after thoracic surgical operations involving mobilization or resection lung parenchyma. Air typically manifests as persistent bubbling in a chest tube drainage system, but may also present with increasing subcutaneous emphysema pneumothorax patient. No universal consensus exist to exact duration which constitutes prolonged leak, it generally regarded if for more than 5 days(14) 7 days(2, 5-7) initial surgery. It an important complication that results increased length stay(8-15) and has been associated other such pneumonia(12, 14, 16), empyema(9, 10, 16) ICU re-admission(12).