New one-way valve device tested for treating open chest wounds in dogs

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Thoracic injuries commonly occur after blunt or penetrating trauma, leading to a blowing wound. For thoracic damage control in emergency, we evaluated a novel chest wound treatment device manufactured using expandable material with a one-way valve, and compared it with closed thoracic drainage for first-line treatment of traumatic pneumothorax in a canine model. METHODS: Twenty beagle dogs (10 males and 10 females) were randomly and equally divided into two groups. After arteriovenous catheterization, an open pneumothorax model was established in the beagle dog using a minimally invasive procedure. The experimental group was treated using our test device, while the control group was treated by closed thoracic drainage. Animal survival, oxygen saturation (SO), oxygen pressure (PO), and changes in chest radiograph with reference to open pneumothorax before and after intervention were recorded at 30, 60, and 120 min. RESULTS: After a 24-h experimental period, all animals survived. The control group recovered more quickly than the experimental group at 30 min post-trauma. However, the indices were close to normal 120 min after the test device was inserted. During the puncture, chest-wall hemorrhage was stopped by using the device, whereas the control group experienced continual errhysis. The lung had almost re-expanded at the end of the experiment in both groups. The effect of pulmonary re-expansion in the control group was better than that in the experimental group at 120 min. CONCLUSION: The novel expandable one-way valve device is a safe and useful tool for the treatment of open chest trauma in emergency based on our animal experiment.