Flushing chest tubes may speed recovery from serious lung infections
NCT ID NCT06427538
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at whether regularly flushing chest drains with salt water helps keep them from getting blocked in people with serious lung infections (empyema). The goal is to see if this simple step can shorten the time the drain needs to stay in, reduce hospital stays, and improve recovery. About 96 adults who need a chest drain as part of their standard care will take part.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 96 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2024
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with complicated parapneumonic pleural effusion and empyema requiring chest tube placement as standard of care for inpatient management of their pleural space infection with or without intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator and deoxyribonuclease therapy * Age \> 18 years old. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have surgical tubes that can't accommodate a three-way stopcock. * Study subject has any disease or condition that interferes with the safe completion of the study. * Inability to provide informed consent. * Inability to undergo a chest X-ray. * If the managing clinician believes the chest tube will be placed for less than 24 hours. * Patients with an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC)
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
5 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Creighton University
RECRUITINGOmaha, Nebraska, 68124, United States
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Henry Ford
RECRUITINGSterling Heights, Michigan, 48310, United States
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Mount Sinai
RECRUITINGNew York, New York, 10029, United States
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Vanderbilt University Medical Center
RECRUITINGNashville, Tennessee, 37203, United States
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Virginia Commonwealth University
RECRUITINGRichmond, Virginia, 23298, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Could a simple chemical wash replace surgery for trapped lungs?
- Could a simple antiseptic wash beat chest infections without surgery?
- New app aims to cut hospital stays for lung patients
- Which antibiotics work best for lung infections? new study compares options
- Can saline alone treat lung infections? new pilot study aims to find out
- Keyhole surgery may beat standard care for chest infections