If fluid, such as blood, or air, gets into the pleural space, the lung can collapse, preventing adequate air exchange. Chest tubes are used to treat conditions that can cause the lung to collapse, such as:

• air leaks from the lung into the chest (pneumothorax)
• bleeding into the chest (hemothorax)
• after surgery or trauma in the chest (pneumothorax or hemothorax)
• lung abscesses or pus in the chest (empyema).

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Chest tube insertion - 1

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Chest tube insertion - 3

Review Date: 03/17/2009
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)