Can procedure time for paracentesis be optimized based on bottle selection?

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to assess if plastic containers could decrease the overall procedure time for paracentesis relative to more commonly used glass containers.

Methods: In this IRB exempt study, initial pilot data comparing filling time of glass and plastic containers in an ex vivo setting under identical conditions revealed power calculations that n = 37 patients per group would be needed to achieve standard deviation (SD) = 60 s, difference (diff) = 40 s, two-tailed alpha-level 0.05, and power 80%.