Drainage using Chest Tubes Smaller than 20 French is Suitable for Patients with Thoracic Empyema

[The benefits of digital chest drainage in pleural decortication in thoracic empyema. Prospective, randomized, control trial].

BACKGROUND Prolonged air leak after pleural decortication is one of the most frequent complications. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to compare the effects of prolonged air leak between the digital chest drainage (DCD) system and the classic drainage system in patients with empyema class IIB or III (American Thoracic Society classification) in pleural decortication patients. MATERIAL AND...

Thoracic empyema in HIV-infected patients.

Design: We have retrospectively reviewed the charts of all HIV-infected patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of empyema between January 1985 and November 1993. Patients: Twenty-three patients were identified (22 male and 1 female). The average patient age was 28.7±5.3 years. All the patients were injection-drug users, and 10 (43%) fulfilled criteria for an AIDS diagnosis. In 15 cases (6...

Novel Split Chest Tube Improves Post-Surgical Thoracic Drainage

OBJECTIVE Conventional, separate mediastinal and pleural tubes are often inefficient at draining thoracic effusions. DESCRIPTION We developed a Y-shaped chest tube with split ends that divide within the thoracic cavity, permitting separate intrathoracic placement and requiring a single exit port. In this study, thoracic drainage by the split drain vs. that of separate drains was tested. MET...

Thoracic Blastomycosis and Empyema

Blastomycosis is endemic in river valley areas of the southeastern and Midwestern United States. Pulmonary manifestations include chronic cough and pleuritic pain. Radiographic appearance of the infection can mimic bronchogenic lung carcinoma. Pleural effusion is rarely associated with this pulmonary infection, and empyema has not been previously reported. We report a case of pulmonary and pleu...

Late Spontaneous Chest Wall Bleeding after Open Thoracic Window for Empyema