Tension Pneumothorax Decompression with Needle Thoracostomy Colorimetric Capnography

Background

The success of needle decompression for tension pneumothorax is variable, and there are no objective measures assessing effective decompression. Colorimetric capnography, which detects carbon dioxide present within the pleural space, may serve as a simple test to assess effective needle decompression.

Methods

Three swine underwent traumatically induced tension pneumothorax, (n=15 standard of care, n=15 with needle capnography). Standard of care needle thoracostomy (n=15) using an 8 cm angiocatheter was performed. Similarly, decompression was performed with the addition of colorimetric capnography. Subjective operator assessment of decompression was recorded and compared to true decompression using thoracoscopic visualization for both techniques. Area under receiver operating curves was calculated and pairwise comparison was used to assess statistical significance (pResults

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