Purpose
Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is an urgent/emergency condition. Treatment with intercostal chest drainage (ICD) is necessary, particularly in symptomatic patients or those with tension. A previous study found that systematic breathing exercise significantly reduced ICD duration when compared with controls. This study aimed to evaluate if pulmonary rehabilitation can reduce the duration of ICD treatment in patients with PSP.
Patients and Methods
This was a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with PSP treated with ICD. Duration of ICD treatment was recorded from patients’ medical charts. Factors associated with ICD duration were calculated using linear regression analysis.
Results
There were 66 patients who met the study criteria, with average (SD) age and body mass index of 31.68 (13.53) years and 20.94 (2.72) kg/m
2
. The majority of the patients were male (72.73%), and average (SD) duration of ICD treatment was 9.90 (7.83) days. Three factors remained in the final model: body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and recurrent PSP. Two factors were independently associated with longer ICD duration: systolic blood pressure and recurrent PSP, with adjusted coefficients of 0.21 (p value 0.041) and 7.69 (p value 0.039), respectively. Pulmonary rehabilitation was not included in the final model.
Conclusion
Patients with a history of recurrent PSP or high systolic blood pressure at presentation may require longer ICD duration. Pulmonary rehabilitation was not associated with the duration of ICD treatment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.