Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK.
Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK
Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Jul;20(4):e60-e61. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0246. Epub 2020 May 25.
Pneumothoraces (1%) and pleural effusions (5%) are two of the less common complications of infection with COVID-19. Following a referral for a pleural drain insertion for a pneumothorax in a patient with COVID-19, we reassessed the infection risks involved in this procedure and its aftercare. Pleural drainage tubes attached to an underwater seal drain allow expulsion of aerosol and larger droplets via the vent from the bottle into the surrounding environment, potentially leading to infection of other patients and staff.Consequently, we chose to attach an antiviral filter to the venting port of an underwater seal drain bottle to mitigate this risk. A fluorescein dye experiment was used to demonstrate the reduction in aerosol emission output from the bottle with our described technique, allowing an antiviral filter to be attached to a pleural underwater seal drainage bottle for added protection of patients and staff in the local environment.
气胸（1%）和胸腔积液（5%）是 COVID-19 感染较少见的并发症。在为 COVID-19 患者的气胸转诊进行胸腔引流管插入后，我们重新评估了该操作及其后续护理的感染风险。带有水下密封引流管的胸腔引流管可通过瓶盖上的通风口将气溶胶和较大的飞沫排出到周围环境中，从而可能导致其他患者和医护人员感染。因此，我们选择在水下密封引流瓶的通风口处安装抗病毒过滤器以降低这种风险。通过荧光素染料实验证明，我们描述的技术可减少从瓶中排放的气溶胶量，从而可以在胸腔水下密封引流瓶上安装抗病毒过滤器，以在当地环境中为患者和医护人员提供额外保护。
