Few things can sound quite as alarming as hearing:

“You need a chest tube.”

Maybe you’ve had surgery. Maybe you were injured. Maybe you’re having trouble breathing and your healthcare team has discovered air or fluid around your lung.

Whatever the reason, the words chest tube can make a frightening situation feel even more frightening.

But understanding what the tube is doing—and what you can expect while you have one—can make it a little less intimidating.

Why Would I Need a Chest Tube?

Your lungs sit inside your chest in a space that allows them to expand as you breathe.

Sometimes air, blood, or other fluid collects in the space around a lung.

When that happens, the lung may not be able to expand normally.

A chest tube provides a way for that unwanted air or fluid to leave the chest so the lung has room to expand again.

Chest tubes may be needed for several reasons, including:

• a collapsed lung, called a pneumothorax
• blood collecting around the lung
• fluid around the lung
• infection involving the space around the lung
• chest injury
• certain chest or lung surgeries

The exact reason matters because it affects how long the tube may be needed and what your healthcare team will be watching for.

What Is a Chest Tube?

A chest tube is a flexible tube inserted through the chest wall into the space around the lung.

The tube is connected to a drainage system that usually sits beside or below the bed.

Depending on why you need the tube, the system may collect fluid, remove air, or do both.

Some chest tubes are also connected to suction.

The equipment can look complicated, but its purpose is relatively simple:

Remove something that shouldn’t be around the lung so the lung can work more normally.

What Is It Like to Have One Put In?

The experience varies depending on the situation.

If the chest tube is placed during surgery, you may wake up with it already there.

If it needs to be inserted while you’re awake, the healthcare team will generally use medication to numb the area and may provide other medication depending on your condition and circumstances.

You may feel pressure or pulling during placement.

Once the tube is in, it is secured and covered with a dressing.

Having a chest tube can be uncomfortable, particularly when moving, coughing, or taking a deep breath.

Pain control matters.

If your pain is preventing you from breathing deeply, coughing, sleeping, or getting out of bed, tell your nurse.

What Is That Box Beside My Bed?

Patients are often more curious about the drainage system than the tube itself.

You may see tubing running from your chest into a plastic collection device near the bed.

Depending on the system, you may notice fluid collecting, bubbling, or movement within different chambers.

Don’t try to adjust the drainage system yourself.

Your nurses and healthcare team will monitor it and determine whether what they’re seeing is expected for your particular situation.

The drainage system is generally kept below the level of your chest so it can work properly.

If it tips over, becomes disconnected, or something suddenly looks different, call your nurse rather than trying to fix it yourself.

Why Does Everyone Keep Looking at It?

Because your chest tube can provide important information about what’s happening inside your chest.

Your healthcare team may monitor:

• how much fluid is draining
• what the drainage looks like
• whether air appears to be leaving the chest
• how you’re breathing
• your oxygen level
• the insertion site and dressing
• the tubing and drainage equipment

They may also use chest imaging to see how the lung is expanding and help determine when the tube is no longer needed.

So when your nurse keeps looking at the tubing and that box beside your bed, there’s a reason.

Can I Move With a Chest Tube?

In many situations, yes.

Having a chest tube doesn’t automatically mean you must stay flat in bed.

In fact, depending on your condition, your healthcare team may encourage you to sit up, get into a chair, walk, cough, and take deep breaths.

Movement and breathing exercises can be important parts of recovery.

But don’t simply get up and start walking on your own.

You have tubing and drainage equipment that need to move safely with you, and you may also have oxygen, IVs, or other equipment attached.

Ask for help.

The goal is usually safe movement, not no movement.

What If Something Doesn’t Feel Right?

Tell your nurse if you develop new or worsening shortness of breath, sudden or significantly increasing chest pain, difficulty breathing, new bleeding, or an unexpected change around the tube or dressing.

Also call for help if the tubing becomes disconnected or you believe the chest tube has moved or come out.

Don’t try to push a tube back in or reconnect equipment unless you’ve specifically been trained and instructed to do so.

A chest tube is something your healthcare team needs to know about when anything changes.

When Does the Chest Tube Come Out?

That depends on why it was placed.

Generally, the healthcare team wants evidence that the problem requiring the tube has improved.

For example, they may be looking for the lung to remain expanded, air leakage to resolve, or drainage to decrease sufficiently.

Patients often worry about removal.

It’s reasonable to ask beforehand:

“What will this feel like?”

The dressing and securing material are removed, and you’ll receive instructions about breathing during the process. Removing the tube itself is usually fairly quick.

There may be pressure, pulling, or brief discomfort.

Once it’s removed, the area is covered and your healthcare team continues monitoring you.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask What You’re Looking At

Chest tubes can be particularly intimidating because patients can actually see what’s draining from their bodies.

If you’re looking at the collection chamber wondering whether something is normal, ask.

“What are you watching for?”

“Is this amount of drainage expected?”

“How is my lung doing?”

“What needs to happen before the tube can come out?”

Those questions can turn a frightening piece of equipment into something you understand.

A Nurse’s Perspective

Chest tubes can make patients nervous.

I understand why.

There’s a tube coming out of your chest, a collection system sitting beside the bed, people repeatedly checking it, and sometimes fluid or bubbling that you don’t know how to interpret.

But once you understand its purpose, the equipment starts to make more sense.

The chest tube isn’t preventing your lung from getting better.

It’s helping create the conditions that allow your lung to recover.

And while you’re waiting for that to happen, don’t underestimate the importance of the other things your healthcare team asks you to do.

Control your pain.

Take those deep breaths.

Use your breathing exercises if they’ve been ordered.

Get up when it’s safe.

Ask for help when you need it.

And ask questions about what you’re seeing.

Medical equipment becomes a little less frightening when you understand the job it’s doing.

Sometimes that tube you can’t wait to have removed is exactly what your body needs for a little while.