the short coat
The Short Coat - January 26, 2016 - Posted by Lauren Westafer
The Gist: Small bore percutaneous catheters, often referred to as "pigtail" catheters, should be the initial means of treating many pneumothoraces and select other drainable thoracic pathologies as they cause less pain and capitalize on the commonly used seldinger technique.
Traditional tube thoracostomy is an invasive procedure. For the past several years, international guidelines, individuals in the Free Open Access Medical education (FOAM) community, and various institutions have moved towards placing more pigtail catheters for urgent thoracic pathology. Yet, this practice is still not ubiquitous. I recently gave a talk on this to my program and, in the spirit of FOAM, have shared it: