Management of pneumothorax differs across Denmark

INTRODUCTION

Pneumothorax is a common problem in Denmark. Guidelines recommend insertion of small-bore (≤ 14 Fr) chest tubes or simple needle aspiration in spontaneous pneumothorax. Our objective was to investigate the management of pneumothorax in Danish hospitals.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We undertook a questionnaire survey at all Danish acute hospitals enquiring about current practice in the management of pneumothorax. A questionnaire was sent to 35 hospitals in May 2013. After follow-up in September 2013, a total of 32 completed questionnaires were assessed.

RESULTS

We found that three hospitals (10.7%) used simple needle aspiration in primary spontaneous pneumothorax. The majority of the hospitals treated all types of pneumothorax by inserting chest tubes with a traditional small thoracotomy (75%), and most hospitals used large-bore (> 14 Fr) chest tubes (85.7%). There were no regional differences in the management of pneumothorax among the five regions in Denmark
(p > 0.05), but we found a trend towards use of less invasive techniques in hospitals with departments of either Respiratory Medicine or Thoracic Surgery.

CONCLUSION

Management of pneumothorax in Denmark is mainly based on insertion of a large-bore (> 14 Fr) chest tube by a traditional small thoracotomy. Only a few hospitals in Denmark use minimally invasive techniques in the management of spontaneous pneumothorax. We speculate that implementation of these techniques may reduce hospital admission time for patients with spontaneous pneumothorax in Denmark.

FUNDING

Not relevant.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Not relevant.

CORRESPONDANCE: Ulrik Winning Iepsen. E-mail: ulrik_winning@hotmail.com

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: none. Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.danmedj.dk.

REFERENCE: Dan Med J 2014;61(3):A4803