Characteristics of patients with prolonged air leak discharged with chest tube
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients* | p value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centre 1 n = 30 | Centre 2 n = 67 | Centre 3 n = 9 | Centre 4 n = 147 | ||
| Sex | 0.180 | ||||
| Male | 18 (60.0) | 34 (51.0) | 8 (89.0) | 83 (56.5) | |
| Female | 12 (40.0) | 33 (49.0) | 1 (11.0) | 64 (43.5) | |
| Age, yr, median (range) | 67.5 (48–83) | 69 (29–88] | 71 (59–79) | 70 (19–84) | 0.734 |
| Resection | < 0.001 | ||||
| Wedge | 2 (6.7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Multiple wedges | 5 (16.7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 | |
| Segmentectomy | 0 (0) | 13 (19.4) | 0 (0) | 8 (5.4) | |
| Lobectomy | 21 (70.0) | 51 (76.0) | 9 (100.0) | 135 (92.0) | |
| Bilobectomy | 2 (6.7) | 3 (4.5) | 0 (0) | 4 (2.6) | |
| Approach | < 0.001 | ||||
| VATS | 10 (33.3) | 23 (34.3) | 9 (100.0) | 112 (76.2) | |
| Open | 20(66.7) | 29 (43.3) | 0 (0) | 31 (21.1) | |
| Robotic | 0 (0) | 15 (22.2) | 0 (0) | 4 (2.7) | |
| FEV1, median (range) | 75 (35–107) | 78 (41–137) | 90 (75–138) | 82 (31–140) | 0.047 |
| DLCO, median (range) | 73.5 (35–107) | 68 (33–112) | 87.5 (60–117) | 66 (24–998) | 0.345 |
| Discharge with antibiotics | < 0.001 | ||||
| No | 14 (46.7) | 67 (100) | 9 (100) | 111 (75.5) | |
| Yes | 16 (53.3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 36 (24.5) | |
| LOS, median (range) | 9 (5–14) | 8 (4–21) | 12 (3–26) | 6 (3–63) | 0.003 |
| Days with chest tube, median (range) | 16 (12–22) | 18 (7–66) | 17 (7–36) | 19 (5–148) | 0.120 |
DLCO = diffusion lung capacity for carbon monoxide; FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in 1 second; LOS = length of stay; VATS = video-assisted thoracic surgery.
↵* Unless indicated otherwise.