TY - JOUR T1 - A randomised, controlled trial of the use of a dedicated ballooned intercostal drain JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.5126 VL - 56 IS - suppl 64 SP - 5126 AU - Rachel Mercer AU - Samuel Kemp AU - Najib Rahman Y1 - 2020/09/07 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/5126.abstract N2 - Background: Chest drain displacement and fall out is a common clinical problem, reported to occur in around 10% of patients in a national audit. It can result in treatment failure or can lead to further unnecesary procedures, both resulting in increased risk for patients. A chest drain with a balloon, designed to be inflated within the pleural space was assessed in a randomised trial to determine whether this new device could prevent drain displacement.Methods: Patients requiring chest drain insertion were randomised 1:1 to either receive a normal chest drain or the new device. The primary outcome was whether the drain displaced with secondary outcomes including pain scores, adverse events, requirement for radiological investigations and length of stay.Results: Of the 267 patients randomised, 134 were in the intervention arm and 133 were controls. Primary endpoint data was available for 128 patients in each arm. The displacement rate in the control arm (15/128) was significantly higher than in the intervention arm (5/128), (11.7% vs 3.9%, Chi2 0.020) in the intention to treat analysis.Discussion: Although the rate of displacement was lower in the interventional arm, an assessment of the adverse events, pain scores and the consequences of displacement, in both arms, need to be assessed before robust recommendations about this device can be made.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 5126.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only). ER -