A surgical procedure where a flexible plastic tube is placed through the chest wall into the pleural space to drain air, blood, or fluid from around the lungs. This procedure is commonly used to treat pneumothorax (collapsed lung) or pleural effusion.
From Old English 'cest' (box, container) referring to the thoracic cavity, combined with Latin 'tubus' (pipe) and 'insertio' (a putting in). The term reflects the literal action of inserting a drainage tube into the chest cavity.
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