Abstract:
M
EDIASTINAL AND pleural drains are inserted after
cardiac surgery to evacuate the postoperative bleeding,
fluids, and air from the mediastinum or pleural cavity. These
drains usually are removed as soon as the bleeding is minimal
and cardiac and respiratory functions are stable. Even though
the incidence of pneumothorax after cardiac surgical proce-
dures in adults1-3 is low (1.4%-3%), a slightly higher incidence
(13.6%) has been reported in pediatric patients.4 Most of these
cases are clinically identifiable. A case of a malpositioned
mediastinal drain causing pneumothorax has not been reported.
An 8-year-old boy who underwent surgical closure of an atrial
septal defect and developed a right tension pneumothorax and
pneumomediastinum postoperatively in the presence of a func-
tioning pleural drain because of the malpositioned mediastinal
drain is presented.
