FREQUENCY OF CHEST TUBE ERRORS AT SURGICAL FLOOR OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

This study was conducted to access the incidence of chest tube errors in surgery patients. Those patients who had undergone chest tube thoracostomy in surgical emergency floor or in Thoracic surgery department at Nishtar Hospital, Multan from April 2022 to September 2023 after meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this study. Detailed history, physical examination and clinical notes were carried out in each patient. Chest X-ray (PA view) post intubation and if required CT scan chest was performed by radiology department of Nishtar Hospital Multan.Upon evaluation of the post intubation CXR, positional error was noted in 44 (27.0%) patients and Insertional error was observed in 31 (19.0%) patients.It can be concluded that chest tube errors are more of positional type ascompared to insertional type and frequency of errors does depend upon the experience of the operator performing the chest tube insertion.