Thoracostomy Tube Irrigation: a Multi-Center Trial

All trauma patients ages 18 years or older presenting within 24 hours of blunt or penetrating injury resulting in traumatic HTx or HPTx will be eligible for enrollment. This prospective comparative study will consist of a non-irrigation control arm and a thoracic irrigation experimental arm. Thoracic irrigation is performed at the time of the initial TT placement, and is done at the discretion of the attending Trauma surgeon. All patients enrolled will be entered in a prospectively maintained thoracic trauma database. The primary outcome is need for secondary intervention, defined as additional TT placement, VATS(Viral Activation Transfusion Study), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), or thoracotomy for the management of retained HTx. Secondary interventions will be screened according to indication. Only secondary interventions directed at management of retained collection will be considered in the analysis for our primary outcome. Secondary intervention aimed at persistent air leaks or post-pull PTx will be considered separately in any analysis.

This is a multicenter observational prospective data collection study. The study was initiated by Dr. Carver at the Medical College of Wisconsin and hosted as a Western Trauma Association Multicenter trial. We will not alter our standard of care practice at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in any way during the study duration. Data abstraction will occur from the electronic medical records program (EPIC). Each participating site will also practice according to their standard of care. If a site chooses to implement a TT irrigation protocol, approval should be obtained from their local divisional and IRB(Institutional Review Board) committees. If a participating site already performs thoracic irrigation, efforts should be made to follow the TT irrigation protocol provided with this study.

Each participating site will develop a method to screen for patients based on the resources available at their institution; this method should be included in the proposal submitted to their IRB.

The data at each participating site will be collected by a member of the study team and entered into the secure REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) database specifically created for this project. Data will be transferred from participating sites to Medical College of Wisconsin via REDCap. REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online databases. All data entered into REDCap and transferred between sites will be deidentified. Only approved study staff at each site will be granted password protected access to the REDCap database. Ultimately, the Medical College of Wisconsin PI will have control over who can access the database and what type of access is granted.

The aim is to have all data collection completed by December 31, 2022 and to have data analysis completed by July 1, 2022.

Inclusion criteria

• • Trauma patients admitted with initial indication for TT placement of HTx or HPTx.

• Patients must present to Methodist Dallas Medical Center within 24 hours of the traumatic event, either blunt or penetrating injury.
• Follow up data available including radiologic studies performed within 24 hours of tube placement and hospital records to determine if any additional intervention(s) was performed.
• 18 years of age or older.

Exclusion criteria

• Less than 18 years of age.
• Patients who had the TT removed (intentionally or unintentionally dislodged) prior to 24 hours TT duration.
• Patients requiring operative exploration of the thoracic cavity within 6 hours following TT placement.
• Patients with thoracotomy or VATS as initial treatment for HTx and/or HPTx
• Patients with TT placed for isolated PTx
• Patients who have a TT placed for HTx or HPTx more than 24 hours after presentation, or more than 24 hours after their traumatic event
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Prisoners
• Physician discretion