Equipment required for pleural drain insertion
- Large or small bore kit as applicable
- Sterile gloves and gown
- Skin antiseptic solution (e.g. iodine or 2% chlorhexidine in 70% alcohol)
- Sterile drapes
- Gauze swabs
- A selection of syringes and needles (19-25 gauge in adults)
- Local anaesthetic (e.g. lignocaine 1%)
- Scalpel and blade
- Suture kit
- Suture (stout and non-absorbable /1.0 - 2.0 silk or prolene)
- Instrument for blunt dissection if required (curved clamp)
- Guide wire and dilators for Seldinger technique
- Chest tube
- Connecting tube
- Closed drainage system (including sterile water if UWSD is being used)
- Dressing equipment may also be available in a kit form
- Chest tube clamps (required for small or large bore catheters in the absence of 3 way tap)