Determining the size of the air fistula in thoracic drainage treatment

摘要

There are proposed apparatuses and methods for chest tube in a patient with a Luftfistel. In this case, a vacuum is created in the pleural cavity of the patient by means of a suction device. To make the adjustment of the vacuum based on objective criteria, it is suggested to determine a suitable size measure of the Luftfistel and to regulate the vacuum generated by the suction means in response to said size measure. In particular, it is proposed to link the measured values ​​of the volume flow and the vacuum mathematically together to close more precisely to the functional size of the Luftfistel.