Quantification of aspirated air volume reduces treatment time in pneumothorax

In 62 consecutive cases of pneumothorax, suction treatment was applied by a new method using a recently-developed vacuum pump (Pleupump) allowing the quantification of the volume of air through the chest drain. The previous 62 cases of pneumothorax treated with standard suction equipment were used as a control group. The new technique resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the mean suction treatment time from 8.1 to 4.8 days in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. The mean total number of days in hospital was reduced from 10.0 to 6.5. This was accomplished without an increase in the number of complications or recurrences of the pneumothorax.