what is the purpose of the water seal chamber for chest tube drainage
drainage unit directly to the chest tube. Any drainage from the chest flows into this chamber. The collection chamber is calibrated and has a write-on surface to allow for easy measurement and recording of the time, date, and amount of drainage. WATER SEAL CHAMBER The middle chamber of a traditional chest drainage system is the water seal. The main purpose of the water seal is to allow air to exit from the pleural space on exhalation and prevent air from entering the pleural cavity or mediastinum on inhalation. When the water seal chamber is filled with sterile fluid up to the 2 cm line, a 2 cm water seal is established (figure 14). To maintain an effective seal, it is important to keep the chest drainage unit upright at all times and to monitor the water level in the water seal to check for evaporation. Bubbling in the water seal chamber indicates an air leak. The patient air leak meter indicates the approximate degree of air leak from the chest cavity