Seldinger chest drain insertion: simpler but not necessarily safer

A symptomatic pleural effusion is a common cause of presentation to medical admission units across the UK. Traditionally, large-bore Argyle-type drains were inserted but, over the past decade, there has been a move to inserting small-bore 10–12 French gauge drains using the Seldinger technique.1 In a recently published report, over 20 000 units of one Seldinger-type drain were sold in the UK in 2004.2 The reasons for this include a perceived...