Cheap, easily replicable neonatal chest drain model

When setting up a local neonatal training day we wanted to create an easily reproducible, cheap but realistic enough model for Seldinger pigtail chest drain insertion. Chest drain training manikins are prohibitively expensive for most departments. Using animal carcasses, although realistic, may not be practical or palatable to all individuals, and previous articles describing various do-it-yourself approaches1 2 still involved specialised materials and significant degrees of construction. Our solution was the ‘pepper chest’, which is easily constructed with commonly available materials—a bell pepper and a small balloon—with three units costing under £1. The top of the pepper is sliced off and the stalk, pith and seeds are removed. The pepper is now a hollow chest cavity, with a skin layer and the flesh representing fascia and muscle layers. To simulate a pneumothorax, a small balloon is blown up, with external diameter slightly smaller than the...

Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition - February 17, 2023 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Winckworth, L. C. Tags: Images in neonatal medicine Source Type: research