Nursing care for adult patients with chest drainage: a scoping review.
Elisiane Goveia da Silva, Bárbara Rodrigues Araujo, Raphaela de Matos Borges and 3 others
PMID 39352316WHAT IT FOUND
For adults with chest drains in ICU, 60 nursing care steps were mapped before, during, and after insertion, including system checks, drainage monitoring, dressings, and removal.
Many lack high-level evidence.
Key findings
01The review mapped 60 nursing care recommendations for adults with chest drains in ICU: 13 before insertion, 9 during insertion, and 38 after insertion.
02The mapped recommendations include keeping the drainage bottle below the patient's chest, avoiding routine clamping, and not milking routinely unless obstruction or a medical order requires it.
03The included evidence base was mostly reviews and observational studies, with only two randomized studies.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review did not assess the quality or risk of bias of the included studies. Most included studies were reviews or observational studies, with only two randomized studies. Full texts were unavailable for 110 excluded studies. Gray literature was not searched. The review covered adults with chest drainage in intensive care, so it may not apply to other settings or patient groups. Some practices, including dressing choice and milking, lacked consensus and strong evidence.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these 60 recommendations as proven care. This scoping review mapped what studies suggest nurses should do; it did not test whether those steps improve patient outcomes, and the authors report little high-level evidence.