ClearFlow, Inc.

08/27/2026

Chest tubes frequently clot
—nurses know this.

There are better solutions
—hospitals may not know this.

Here are the challenges and solutions of chest tube clogging and the opportunities to reduce complications and costs of care. https://lnkd.in/gHzpuMvj



https://clearflow.com/the-challenges-of-keeping-a-chest-tube-free-of-clogging-after-heart-surgery/

The Challenges of Keeping a Chest Tube Free of Clogging after Heart Surgery Chest tubes are used on every case after heart surgery to drain blood from around the heart and lungs in the early hours of recovery.1,2 If there is any bleeding, or even oozing tissues, the blood must be immediately drained...

08/25/2026

Chest tubes clog in 36% of patients, and the inadequate evacuation of the shed blood can lead to worse outcomes and higher costs. Can you influence better outcomes? https://www.clearflow.com/post-op-bleeding-after-heart.../

08/21/2026

Surgery efficiencies, reduced costs, and overall better outcomes for your patients.

When you follow the evidence-based ERAS Cardiac Surgery Society around the use of Rigid Sternal Fixation systems, you improve your patients postoperative recovery, reduce complications, and save on your budget.

For the science behind plate fixation read: Randomized, multicenter trial comparing sternotomy closure with rigid plate fixation to wire cerclage created by Keith Allen, Vinod Thourani, MD, Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, Kendra J. Grubb, MD, MHA, FACC, MD, John Grehan, MD, PhD, Nirav Patel, MD, T. Sloane Guy, MD, Kevin Landolfo, MD, Marc Gerdisch, MD, FACS, FACC, FHRS, MD, Mark Bonnell, MD, and David J. Cohen, MD.

For a demo of the ClearFix Rigid Sternal Fixation system,
reach out to Tony Mathiason here on Linkedin.

Check it out at https://lnkd.in/gMgY3_NU

08/19/2026

Reduce the incidence of Retained Blood Syndrome (RBS) with proper postoperative drainage.

⬆️ Improve outcomes
⬇️ Reduce costs

08/17/2026

Reduce patient ventilator time, and preserve critical ICU resources.
Maintain chest tube patency — reduce ICU length of stay, get patients home faster.
https://clearflow.com/icu/

A recently-published peer-reviewed study found that actively maintaining chest tube patency in early hours following cardiac surgery can reduce complications and lead to a 32% reduction in the ICU LOS and a 20% reduction in patient ventilator time.20

08/13/2026

Lower the incidence of retained blood complications after heart surgery.
A recent meta-analysis revealed the benefits of active chest tube clearance (ATC).

After heart surgery, the chest tube removes lost mediastinal blood. Clogging of the chest tube may induce inadequate evacuation of fluids surrounding the lungs and heart, leading to deadly consequences. This meta-analysis compared the effectiveness of active chest tube clearance (ATC) with conventional chest tube (CT) in lowering the incidence of retained blood complications after heart surgery. We conducted a systematic search of the available databases to identify cohort studies or clinical trials that met our inclusion criteria. Studies that compared active tube clearance and conventional tube in cardiac surgery were included. The fixed or random-effects model was used to determine the pooled effect estimates upon the heterogeneity of collected data. This review included 7003 people from five cohort studies and three clinical trials. This meta-analysis provides evidence on the positive effect of active maintenance of chest tube patency during the first hours of cardiac surgery, which resulted in reducing the incidence of complications.

More on this systematic review and meta-analysis can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gJUvd5gM

AUTHORS & AFFILIATIONS:
Faculty of Medicine for Boys, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Mohammed Tarek Hasan, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Hagrass, Mohamed Nabil Elkhrashy, Mohamed Hamouda, Anas Zakarya Nourelden & Ahmed Bostamy Elsnhory
International Medical Research Association (IMedRA), Cairo, Egypt
Mohammed Tarek Hasan, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Hagrass, Mohamed Nabil Elkhrashy, Mohamed Hamouda, Noura Mohamed shada, Sarah M. Hashem, Mohammed Al-kafarna, Hossam Waleed Almadhoon, Khaled Mohamed Ragab, Anas Zakarya Nourelden & Ahmed Bostamy Elsnhory
Gamal Abdel Nasser Axis, The 3rd Settlement, New Cairo, Egypt
Abdulrahman Ibrahim Hagrass
Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Noura Mohamed shada & Sarah M. Hashem
Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine
Mohammed Al-kafarna
Faculty of Dentistry, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine
Hossam Waleed Almadhoon
Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt
Khaled Mohamed Ragab

CONTRIBUTIONS:
Conception and design of the work by Khaled Mohamed Ragab and Ahmed Bostamy Elsnhory.
Selection process and data collection by Mohammed Tarek Hasan, Mohamed Nabil Elkhrashy, Mohamed Hamouda, Noura Mohamed shada, and Sarah M. Hashem.
Data analysis and interpretation by Abdulrahman Ibrahim Hagrass and Khaled Mohamed Ragab.
Drafting the article by Mohammed Al-kafarna and Hossam Waleed Madhoon.
Critical revision and editing of the article by Abdulrahman Ibrahim Hagrass, Ahmed Bostamy Elsnhory, and Anas Zakarya Nourelden.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Correspondence to Abdulrahman Ibrahim Hagrass.

After heart surgery, the chest tube removes lost mediastinal blood. Clogging of the chest tube may induce inadequate evacuation of fluids surrounding the lungs and heart, leading to deadly consequences. This meta-analysis compared the effectiveness of active chest tube clearance (ATC) with conventio...

08/11/2026

Surgery cost savings that improve outcomes for all hospital patients.

When you use the ClearFix Rigid Sternal Fixation system at your facility, you improve postoperative recovery, reduce complications, and save on budgets that can be redirected to improve facilities and equipment which contribute to better patient outcomes and quality of care.

For the science behind plate fixation read: Rigid Fixation for the Prevention and Treatment of Sternal Complications created by Rahim Nazerali, MD, MHS, Katharine Hinchcliff, MD, and Michael S. Wong, MD, FACS

For a demo of the ClearFix Rigid Sternal Fixation system,
reach out to Tony Mathiason here on Linkedin.

Check it out at https://lnkd.in/gMgY3_NU

08/07/2026

Live support at your fingertips.
Get access to resources and documents, or speak with someone directly regarding PleuraFlow® Active Clearance Technology® (ACT) System.

The ClearFlow Assistant app has you covered.
Get it here: https://clearflow.com/clinical-support/

08/07/2026

𝗗𝗿. 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘃 and 𝗔𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, RN discuss how PleuraFlow helps enable chest tube patency after cardiac surgery. Watch the full webinar here: https://youtu.be/iz-Eb_LonZ0

08/07/2026

𝗗𝗿. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘃 and 𝗗𝗿. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵 discuss their utilization of PleuraFlow Active Clearance Technology to help maintain chest tube patency after cardiac surgery. Systematic vs Selective Usage. Watch the full webinar here: https://youtu.be/iz-Eb_LonZ0