Pressure Levels on Lung Expansion

Question: What level of noninvasive positive airway pressure is able to expand the lungs of people with pleural drainage? Design: Cross-sectional, experimental and randomized study. Participants: Four consecutive people with pleural effusion drained within 24 hours, with controlled pain and without contraindications to use of noninvasive positive pressure. Intervention: Each person will be randomly subjected to three levels of noninvasive positive airway pressure: 0 (zero), 4 and 15 cmH2O for evaluation via chest computed tomography. Outcome measures: Lung area.