Drainage Efficiency of Double-Lumen Sump Catheters and Single-Lumen Catheters: An In Vitro Comparison

Abstract

To compare the drainage efficiency of double-lumen sump catheters and single-lumen catheters in an in vitro model. Four 12-F, 27.5-cm catheters were used in the study. Three of these had a double lumen with a 7-F internal diameter drainage lumen and one had a single lumen with an 8-F internal diameter drainage lumen. The sump hole opened internally to the drainage lumen in one catheter, opened externally in one catheter, and was occluded in one catheter. Catheters were connected to continuous low-wall suction and were immersed in water, viscous fluid, and viscous fluid with particles. The volume of fluid drained by each catheter was measured and compared. The single-lumen catheter with an 8-F internal diameter drainage lumen drained a volume equal to or larger than that for double-lumen catheters with a 7-F internal diameter drainage lumen for each type of fluid. The open sump of the double-lumen catheters may have decreased the catheter's drainage efficiency by allowing air to be suctioned into the catheter. Single-lumen catheters performed as well as or more efficiently than double-lumen catheters of the same outer diameter in this in vitro model.