[Withdrawal of chest tubes without water seal vs. negative continuous suction after closed cardiovascular surgery procedures in children].

Background: We undertook this study to compare the frequency and type of complications, as well as the length of hospital stay, in children who underwent closed cardiovascular surgery with chest tube drainage during the postsurgical period with children in whom the drainage was withdrawn with continuous suction, once thoracotomy was completed.

Methods: A retrospective, descriptive and analytic study was performed at the IMSS Hospital de Pediatria, located at the XXI Century National Medical Center in Mexico City. Eighty eight children who underwent closed cardiovascular surgery (Group I) without chest tubes and 42 with chest tubes (Group II) were studied.