Dtsch Arztebl Int
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Video-assisted thoracoscopy and atypical resection of lung parenchyma is a surgical procedure that is carried out very commonly around the world, mainly to determine the degree of malignancy of a suspect pulmonary nodule. A pleural drain is routinely inserted at the end of the procedure. The goal of our study was to evaluate the outcomes of this procedure with and without pleural drainage. ⋯ Not inserting a chest tube after video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy significantly shortens the postoperative hospital stay, and the complications in the chest-tube and no-chest-tube groups are similar. Postoperative pain and analgesic consumption are markedly less when no chest tube is inserted.