How to remove the blue pigtail

Place the patient in the supine position with chest exposed and the arm abducted or overhead. Create a tunnel just superior to the rib and puncture the parietal pleura with a clamp. A pigtail catheter is inserted following an ultrasound to identify the location. It's locked in place, and covered in a sterile dressing. The video below shows one technique. Of note the chest tube that is present in the video is a Cook Medical Dawson-Mueller Multipurpose Drainage Catheter (Order Number: G09706 REF:. PURPOSE: To outline the indications and procedure guideline for the insertion and removal of a chest tube (tube thoracostomy) or a pigtail catheter in a trauma patient. [pdf]