Water Seal Drainage
Definition
It is a simple device to evacuate air, fluid, pus or blood from the pleural space effectively and as quickly as possible.
Indications
Any pneumothorax occupying twenty percent or more of the hemithorax
Tension pneumothorax
Pleural effusion
Empyema
Haemothorax
The apparatus
Chest tube - glass straw - one end of the straw immersed in saline in a glass bottle so that air cannot reenter the submerged tube tip
The bottle is kept at a level far below the chest so that the water will be sucked to a small height into the glass straw but not upto the chest level.
The bottle has an inlet for the glass straw attached to the chest and an outlet for a glass rod which serves to let out air from the bottle.
More sophiscated branded water seal systems available
Nursing action and rationale
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