Abstract:Objective To explore the feasibility and safety of removing the thoracic tube based on continuous 8-hour pleural drainage volume (PDV) after thoracoscopic segmentectomy.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 360 patients with pulmonary nodules who underwent thoracoscopic pulmonary segmental resection from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Patients with thoracic tube removal based on 8-hour PDV were set as the 8-hour group (173 cases), and patients with thoracic tube removal based on 24-hour PDV were set as the 24-hour group (187 cases). Compare the surgery-related conditions and postoperative complications of the two groups of patients.Results There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of patients in terms of surgical lung lobes, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, the number of lymph node stations dissected, the number of lymph nodes dissected, and postoperative pathology (P > 0.05). The indwelling time of the thoracic tube and the postoperative hospital stay in the 8-hour group were significantly shorter than those in the 24-hour group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the rates of re-drainage and poor incision healing between the two groups of patients (P > 0.05).Conclusion It may be safe and feasible to remove the thoracic tube based on 8-hour PDV after thoracoscopic segmental resection of the lung. Compared with the traditional plan of removing the thoracic tube based on the 24-hour PDV, this method can remove the thoracic tube earlier and shorten the hospital stay. It is worthy of clinical promotion and application.