Objective. To study the effectiveness and safety of Heimlich valve use for outpatient management of patients with prolonged air leak. Material and methods. We retrospectively analysed medical data of 266 consecutive patients treated in a single center from January 2015 till December 2018. The volume of operation was VATS lobectomy or segmentectomy. Twenty percent of patients (53 pts.) had prolonged air leak (defined as air leaking lung for more than 5 days). Among them, 43 patients were discharged with the Heimlich valve. The criteria for discharge were: the absence of other complications of the postoperative period that require in-hospital treatment, the patient's agreement to be discharged with valve, the absence of increasing pneumothorax and surgical emphysema on passive drainage. Results. Fourteen percent of patients had an ineffective first attempt of valve administration. The mean time of outpatient drainage constituted 8 days. In the research group, there were no complications of prolonged drainage, a