I am fortunate to work with a group of inter-professionals who strive for perfection.  When you connect such people with those with skills in multimedia you create the opportunity for education.  I can’t say enough about the power of education and moreover the ability to improve patient outcomes when it is done well.

With this post I am going to be starting to share a collection of videos that I will release from time to time.  The hope with any release like this is that you the reader wherever you are may find some use from these short clips.  My thanks to the team that put these together as the quality is beyond compare and the HD quality is great for viewing on any device.

Placing A Chest Tube Can Be A Difficult Thing

As I said to a colleague in training the other day, a chest tube may seem daunting but once you see how it is done it loses some of its intimidation.  Having said that, once you see it placed it can be a long time between opportunities for you to view another.  That is where having a repository of videos comes in that you can watch prior to the next opportunity.  These very short clips are easy to access when needed and may calm the nerves the next time you are called to place a chest tube.

A Word About Chest Tubes

The videos in question demonstrate how to place a Thal quick chest tube. In case this looks foreign to you it may be because you are using the older generation style of chest tubes that come equipped with a trocar.  Even without the use of the trocar, these rigid tubes carry a significant risk of lung laceration or other tissue injury.  For a review of such complications related to chest tube insertion see Thoracostomy tubes: A comprehensive review of complications and related topics.

The jury as they say is still out with respect to the use of these softer chest tube sets.  There is no question that they are easier to place than the traditional thoracostomy tube.  Their pliability though does carry a significant risk of kinking or blockage as we have seen in some patients when the Thal chest tube set is used to drain fluid in particular.  Less of an issue with air leaks.

Start of a series

This post I suppose marks a slightly new direction for the blog.  While I thoroughly enjoy educating you with the posts about topics of interest I see an opportunity to help those who are more visual in their learning.  The videos will be posted over the next while with accompanying written posts such as this.  They can be accessed on my Youtube channel at

All Things Neonatal YouTube

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Lastly a big thank you to NS, RH and GS without whom none of this would have been possible!