Digital pleural drainage technology is here to stay—time to realize its potential

Institutions worldwide seek means to continue to produce high quality care while reducing overall health care cost. Digital pleural drainage devices have been explored as a potential method to improve health care efficiency. Objective documentation of a parenchymal air leak using digital sensors results in increased inter-observer reliability (1,2) thus presenting an opportunity to identify candidates for chest tube removal in a more reliable and timely fashion. With indwelling chest tubes often being a limiting factor in discharging patients from hospital, earlier removal may lead to improved length of stay.