Phone calls and pills: a new strategy to keep lung surgery patients out of the hospital

This study tested whether giving patients antibiotics and making regular phone check-ins after they go home with a chest tube could prevent serious infections and reduce return trips to the hospital. It involved 25 adults who had lung surgery and were discharged with a tube still in place to drain air. The trial compared this proactive approach to the usual method, where patients contact their care team only when they think the air leak has stopped.