Comparison of average air leak over 48 h and overall chest drain duration by initial air leak reduction (i.e. <50ml/min in 30mins), for each surgical procedure
| Surgical procedure | Air leak reduced to <50ml/min in 30mins? (%) | N (%) | Average leak over next 48hrs (ml/min) | Significance of difference (p value) | Drain duration (days) | Significance of difference (p value) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lung resection | Y | 34 (38.6%) | 34.4 | 5.0 | ||
| N | 55 (61.4%) | 164.9 | 0.01 | 7.1 | 0.26 | |
| Total/Average | 88 (100%) | 114.4 | 6.1 | |||
| Pleural | Y | 18 (64.3%) | 9.1 | 3.00 | ||
| N | 10 (35.7%) | 196.7 | 0.03 | 9.70* | 0.19 | |
| Total/Average | 28 (100%) | 76.4 | 5.4 | |||
| Empyema | Y | 7 (58.3%) | 9.83 | 7.0 | ||
| N | 5 (41.7%) | 1001.4 | 0.08 | 15.4 | 0.12 | |
| Total/Average | 12 (100%) | 423.0 | 10.5 | |||
*However, sensitivity analysis shows no difference (3.0 days) once a single outlier of 70day duration was removed from ongoing air leak group