Thoracentesis with a chest tube insertion and drainage of large pleura
l effusion is widely performed in patients with malignant lung disease
s. One potential problem with a conventional chest tube placement is o
ccasional incomplete evacuation of effusion owing to inappropriate pos
ition of the tip where the drainage holes opened. We have developed a
curved chest tube and evaluated the position of tip placement just aft
er the placement and before removal on plain chest X-ray in 20 patient
s with massive pleural effusions due to lung cancer. In 15 of the 20 p
atients, the tip of the tube was successfully positioned at the parave
rtebral gutter in posterobasal with higher drainage efficacy compared
with other patients whose tube tips happened to be positioned at other
sites. There were no significant complications. This study suggested
that the curved chest tube would be safe and useful in completing drai
nage of pleural effusion.