Among the most threatening mechanical complications that immediately attend thoracic central line placement is pneumothorax.
Iatrogenic pneumothorax directly effects patient morbidity,
as it often requires an evacuation procedure. Moreover, this complication is known to increase health care resource use and mortality.
The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found in 2012 that iatrogenic pneumothorax was associated with 4.4 days of extra hospitalization,
more than $17,000 in additional hospital charges, and 7.0% excess mortality [3]