NCT06688734

Suction Versus Water Seal for Initial Treatment of Traumatic Pneumothorax Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 72 (actual)
• Sponsor: Vanderbilt University Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effect of placing chest tubes to water seal versus suction initially, in patients with traumatic pneumothoraces, on overall chest tube duration. The main question it aims to answer is: * Does placing chest tubes to water seal initially results in a shorter chest tube duration, without an increase in complications? Alternating each month, patients' chest tubes will either be placed to water seal or to suction initially. All other management decisions related to the chest tube will be left to the providers.

Conditions

• Pneumothorax
• Trauma

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Inital water seal	After chest tube placement, the chest tube will be placed to 20cm H2O of suction for 1 minute to evacuate all pneumothorax. After this, the chest tube will be placed to water seal, defined as the water seal chamber on the chest tube drainage system being filled up to the 2cm line and not on suction. All other management decisions related to the chest tube will be left to the providers.
PROCEDURE	Initial suction	After chest tube placement, the suction group will have their chest tube placed to 20cm H2O of suction delivered by the chest tube drainage suction. All other management decisions related to the chest tube will be left to the providers.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-10-01
• Primary completion: 2025-05-31
• Completion: 2025-06-20
• First posted: 2024-11-14
• Last updated: 2025-08-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States