Safety of the removal of pericardial and mediastinal drain within a different drainage volume after cardiac valvular replacement surgery: A case control study / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

@#Objective To assess the safety of the removal of pericardial and mediastinal drain within different drainage volume after cardiac valvular replacement surgery. Methods Between July 2013 and July 2017, 201 patients with rheumatic heart disease (CHD) were treated with valve replacement in our hospital, including 57 males and 144 females, aged 15 to 72 years. They were divided into two groups according to the amount of 24-h drainage before the drain removal: a group one with 24-h drainage volume≤50 ml (n=127) and a group two with 24-h drainage volume>50 ml (n=74). The postoperative hospital stay and the incidence of severe complications between the two groups were compared. Results There was no difference between the two groups in the baseline information or the incidence of severe pericardial effusion and tamponade, while the group two tended to have a shorter length of hospital stay after surgery (8.0 dvs.7.5 d, P=0.013). Conclusion In CHD patients undergoing valvular surgery, compared with a relatively low amount of drainage before the drain removal, drawing the tube at a greater amount of drainage (24-h drainage volume>50 ml) will shorten the length of hospital stay after cardiac surgery while incidence of severe complications remains the same.