Chest Drainage

Improving outcomes and streamlining care - clinically proven

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What is the purpose of chest drainage?

Chest drainage helps maintain respiratory function and hemodynamic stability by removing blood, fluid, or air from around your lungs, heart, or esophagus. By providing regulated negative pressure, chest drainage allows the lungs to fully expand, an important clinical goal for patients with injuries or diseases, or patients undergoing surgery and post-surgery recovery. Chest tube drainage systems are typically used in operating rooms, ICUs, and the emergency department.

In selecting a chest tube drainage system, many hospitals prioritize systems that provide reliable, uninterrupted drainage of the chest cavity, easy setup, quiet operation, and advanced monitoring features to improve chest drainage management. Portable chest drainage systems offer additional benefits, including reduced reliance on wall suction and earlier mobility to the lower the risk of post-operative complications and reduce length of stay.

Thopaz+ takes chest drainage therapy to a new level of care

Unlike analogue systems, it reliably regulates the applied pressure at the patient’s chest and digitally (and quietly) monitors critical therapy indicators. Clinical data has demonstrated that Medela’s chest drainage therapy improves outcomes and streamlines the delivery of care.

Medela takes chest drainage therapy to a new level of care

Thopaz+, unlike analogue systems, it reliably regulates the applied pressure at the patient’s chest and digitally (and quietly) monitors critical therapy indicators. Clinical data has demonstrated that Medela’s chest drainage therapy improves outcomes and streamlines the delivery of care. The ClotStop® catheters are made of silicone, which ensures easy and safe placement in the thorax. The unique ClotStop® coating helps minimize the risk of clots sticking to the surface and therefore the occlu - sion of the catheter and increases patient comfort.

15+ Years of Digital Drainage Research and Innovation

Vast amounts of clinical and global experience show how the introduction of Digital Chest Drainage systems has significantly impacted the medical field.

2019

ERAS® guidelines for enhanced recovery after lung surgery with strong recommendation for digital drainage.1

2018

NICE (an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health in the UK) recommends Thopaz+ for managing chest drains 2. "At a national level, adopting
Thopaz+ is expected to save around £8.5 million ($10.68 million) per year in England".

2018

New AWMF S3-Leitlinie (Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany S3 Guideline) 3 recommends digital drainage for primary/secondary pneumothorax.

2016

1,000,000 patients treated with Thopaz or Thopaz+.

2015

Clinical data of 120 cardiac patients showed more efficient fluid collection due to continuous suction.4

2014

CADTH (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health) appraisal for compact digital chest drainage systems.5

2014

Data of international multicenter study shows significant reduction of chest tube duration and length of stay.6

2011

Thopaz wins a UK Patient Safety Award.7

2011

Publication of "Consensus definitions ESTS, AATS and STS to promote an evidence-based approach to management of the pleural space".8

2008

Robert J. Cerfolio, thoracic surgeon and thought leader acknowledges the benefits of Thopaz after pulmonary resection.9

2007

First patient on Thopaz.

2005

Introduction of Santhora Thoracic Drainage System.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Thopaz+ for managing chest drains.

save_money

Allows for cost savings of up to £550 ($703) per patient

shortens_hospital_stay

Shortens hospital stay due to shorter chest tube duration

improves_safety

Improves safety for patients with chest drains

  • At a national level, adopting Thopaz+ is expected to save around £8.5 million per year in England. Thopaz+ reduces chest tube duration and length of stay (in hospital).
  • Thopaz+ Improves safety for people with chest drains.
  • Thopaz+ Improves clinical decision-making through continuous objective monitoring of air leaks and fluid loss.
  • Thopaz+ Increases patient mobility.
  • Healthcare providing staff finds Thopaz+ more convenient and easier to use than conventional chest drains.

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1 Batchelor TJP, Rasburn NJ, Abdelnour-Berchtold E, et al. Guidelines for enhanced recovery after lung surgery: recommendations of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS®) society and the european society of thoracic surgeons (ESTS). Eur J Cardio-Thorac Surg. 2018. [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezy301.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30304509  

2 NICE Guidance MTG37: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/MTG37

3 AWMF S3-Leilinie: Diagnostik und Therapie von. Spontanpneumothorax und postinterventionellem Pneumothorax http://www.awmf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Leitlinien/010_Thoraxchirurgie/010-007ag_S3_Spontanpneumothorax-postinterventioneller-Pneumothorax-Diagnostik-Therapie_2018-03.pdf

4 Barozzi, L. et al., 2015: Do we still need wall suction for chest drainage? J Cardiovascular Surgery.2015;56(Supp.1)102.

5 Rapid Response Report: Compact Digital Thoracic Drain Systems for the Management of Thoracic Surgical Patients: A Review of the Clinical Effectiveness, Safety, and Cost-Effectiveness . https://cadth.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/htis/dec-2014/RC0590%20Compact%20Digital%20Thoracic%20Drain%20Final.pdf

6 Pompili, C. et al., 2014: Multicenter International Randomized Comparison of Objective and Subjective Outcomes Between Electronic and Traditional Chest Drainage SystemsAnn Thorac Surg. 98: 490–497.

7 Read https://www.medela.co.uk/healthcare/news-events/news/medela-wins-bbh-award

8 Brunelli, A. et al., 2011: Consensus definitions to promote an evidence-based approach to management of  the pleural space. A collaborative proposal by ESTS, AATS, STS, and GTSC.  Eur J Cardiothorac Surg.: 40(2):291-7.

9 Cerfolio, Robert J. et al., The Benefits of Continuous and Digital Air Leak Assessment After Elective Pulmonary Resection: A Prospective Study.The Annals of Thoracic Surgery , Volume 86 , Issue 2 , 396 - 401.