INTRODUCTION

Chest drains are widely used in cardiothoracic surgery. They are left in place after surgery for evacuation of air and fluids accumulated in the thoracic cavities. It has been a standard practice to obtain a routine chest X-ray once the chest drain is removed. There is no clear guidance regarding the necessity and timing of the chest X-rays after removal, yet they are rather empirically obtained.1–3Americal College of Radiology does not support the routine use of chest X-rays after the removal of chest drains.4
Undifferentiated routine use of chest X-rays has several disadvantages. It increases false-positive rates, overall costs and leads to overutilisation of the healthcare resources.5,6Furthermore, it increases the exposure to ironising radiation in patients, especially important in children because of the cumulative risk of malignancy later in life.3,7In addition, routine use of chest X-rays does not influence mortality rate, length of intensive care stay or hospital stay.5This review aims to explore the evidence in the literature regarding the routine use of chest X-rays in patients, both adults and children, undergoing cardiac and thoracic surgical procedures.