Dr L, (she told me she was the most junior doctor then), told me that there are two ways to doing a chest tap.
1. Chest Tube - The side of the chest is numbed with local anesthesia, an insertion is made and then a tube is pushed in through the chest to drain the fluid. This could be done any time and on the hospital bed itself. I understood that the tube is quite thick and the way it was described to me sounded so gory that I decided to pass that.
2. Coop Loop - This has to be done in an operating theatre and would be an ultrasound guided procedure done under local anesthesia. The tubes used would be finer. An incision is made on the side of the chest. A string is attached near the tip of the tube being pushed into the chest. At some point, it is pulled and tied to a section behind the tip so that when the tube is pushed further in, the tube curls and form a loop. At the point of exit, the tube, with a valve attached, is stitched to the skin, and the other end of the tube is attached to a sealed container with markings for measurement.
I decided on Coop Loop, but had to wait 3 days for the procedure as the operating theatre was not available.
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