Chest drains: purse string suture 4.0.

There are many discussions about the technique of removal of chest drains. In our hospital, we have used an intracutaneous suture technique with non-absorbable suture material for the purse-string suture for a few years now. Thus the cosmetic results improved considerably. Nevertheless, the thread has to be removed after 10-14 days. To further improve patient comfort we developed a purse-string suture technique using an absorbable barbed suture. We noticed better cosmetic results and less painfull drain removal. Furthermore, there is no more need for a stitch removal which reduces material costs and also pain.