Page 181 - BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Head, Neck and Thoracic Surgery, 2nd Edition

eline Head,
Neck and
A Manual of Canine and F
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Thoracic Surger
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Head, Neck and Thoracic Surgery
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BSA
➜ OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE 12.2 CONTINUED
VetBooks.ir 3 Remove the introducer catheter, leaving the J-wire in place. Keep hold of the J-wire at all times to prevent
inadvertent wire slippage out of the chest.
4 Advance the 14 G chest tube into the chest over the guidewire, keeping a firm hold of the wire at all times and
making a small skin incision with a blade just large enough to allow advancement of the chest drain over the wire
and into the chest.

5 Remove the wire and drain any pleural air or fluid with a syringe.
6 Secure the chest drain to the skin using the suture holes in the chest tube.

7 If the drain cannot be fully inserted (small patients) the tube can be secured using additional suture wing adaptors
in the kit.
8 It is recommended that the tube is flushed with saline several times a day to decrease the risk of tube blockage.

POSTOPERATIVE CARE
• A dressing is placed over the site of chest drain insertion and held in place by a chest bandage.
• The dressing and bandage must be changed and all the connections checked at least once daily.
• The animal must wear an Elizabethan collar to prevent interference with the drain.
• Animals with chest drains should have constant, ideally continuous, supervision: to ensure security of the tube
connections; to observe for changes in respiratory rate and effort; and to prevent interference with the drain.

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