• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.368-371
• /
• 2012

The present study evaluated the outcome of use of thoracostomy tube tunneling technique under the latissimus dorsi muscle for the evacuation of postoperative pneumothorax induced by thoracotomy in 11 dogs. A stab incision was made through the skin and the latissimus dorsi muscle over the rib in the fifth intercostal space caudal to a surgical window. The thoracostomy tube with a Kelly hemostat was advanced into the thoracic cavity in a cranioventral direction through the sublatissimal tunnel. After tube placement, a # 1 nylon horizontal mattress suture was placed around the skin incision. The thoracostomy tube was removed after creating a negative pressure in the thoracic cavity. Dogs were monitored after surgery for pneumothorax, subcutaneous emphysema, clinical signs including dyspnea, and tube kinking in a muscle tunnel using physical examination and postoperative radiography. There was no tube kinking in the sublatissimal tunnel in 11 dogs on introducing the tubes into the thoracic cavity. The mean (${\pm}SD$) follow-up period was $19{\pm}10$ months. On postoperative radiography, there was no evidence of pneumothorax in 11 dogs. Subcutaneous emphysema was identified around the stab incision in a dog postoperatively. The subcutaneous emphysema disappeared spontaneously within 3 days. On postoperative physical examination, there was no evidence of dyspnea in 11 dogs. Our results suggest that the sublatissimal tunneling technique for thoracostomy tube placement is effective to prevent air leakage around the thoracostomy tube while the tube remains in the thoracic cavity and along the thoracostomy tunnel after tube removal. Tunneling under the latissimus dorsi muscle should be considered the thoracostomy tube placement technique to prevent iatrogenic pneumothorax with first priority.