Table 3.

Significant and non-significant risk factors for pneumothorax and chest drain insertion

	Pneumothorax	Pneumothorax requiring chest drain insertion
Significant risk factors	Larger guide/Needle gauges (≤18G) Bullae crossed Fissure crossed Emphysema No pleural contact Puncture site up (vs site down with aperture in CT Gantry table) Prone or supine (vs lateral decubitus position with biopsied lung-dependent) Lateral decubitus position with biopsied lung non-dependent (vs prone or supine) Multiple non-coaxial tissue Samples Smaller lesions Deeper lesions >1 Pleural puncture Interactive breath-hold	Larger guide/Needle gauges (≤18G) Bullae crossed Fissure crossed Emphysema No pleural contact Puncture site up (vs site down with aperture in CT Gantry table)
Non-significant risk factors	Training level Immediate evaluation by cytologist FNA vs core Non-coaxial vs coaxial Number of samples from coaxial Biopsy approach Needle entry angle Sedation Age Sex Smoking status Lobe	Training Level Immediate evaluation by cytologist FNA vs core Non-coaxial vs coaxial Needle entry angle Number of pleural punctures Number of samples from coaxial Patient position Puncture site location Interactive breath-hold Sedation Sex Lobe

FNA, fine needle aspiration.