Home › NCT06427538
Chest Drain Regular Flushing in Complicated Parapneumonic Effusions and Empyemas
Who can join
Ages 18 and older · All sexes
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with complicated parapneumonic pleural effusion and empyema requiring chest tube placement as standard of care for inpatient management of their pleural space infection with or without intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator and deoxyribonuclease therapy * Age \> 18 years old. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have surgical tubes that can't accommodate a three-way stopcock. * Study subject has any disease or condition that interferes with the safe completion of the study. * Inability to provide informed consent. * Inability to undergo a chest X-ray. * If the managing clinician believes the chest tube will be placed for less than 24 hours. * Patients with an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC)
About the study
Infections of the pleural space are common, and patients require antibiotics and chest drain placement to evacuate the chest from the infected fluid. Chest drains can get blocked by the drainage fluid and material. For this reason, it is thought that flushing the chest drain with saline solution, can help maintain the patency of the tube. This proposed study will evaluate the impact of regular chest drain flushing on the length of time to chest tube removal and total hospitalization as well as improvement in chest imaging and the need for additional interventions on the infected space.
What is being tested
- Saline Flush (other)
Sponsor: Vanderbilt University Medical Center · Participants: 96 · Started: Jun 21, 2024
Contact the study team
- Samira Shojaee, MD, MPH · Phone: 615-322-2386
- Jennifer Duke, MD · Phone: 615-322-2386
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT06427538
Locations in the U.S.
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.