Is It Safe to Omit Any Chest X‐Ray Before Removing the Chest Drain After Elective, Non‐Cardiac Thoracic Surgery? A Single‐Center, Retrospective, Case–Control Study

Omitting any X-ray between surgery and removal of the chest drain appears to be safe in our retrospective patient cohort. The proposed benefits of omitting the X-ray are very relevant for the health care system, the medical and nursing teams, and, more importantly, for the patients. Evidence suggests that X-ray of patients regularly do not exist. It is therefore reasonable to consider exploring this question in a formal prospective trial.