Minithoracoscopy: A Complementary Technique for Medical Thoracoscopy

Minithoracoscopy: a complementary technique for medical thoracoscopy.

Minithoracoscopy, currently defined as thoracoscopy with instruments of a diameter between 2 and 5 mm, is part of the general evolution of endoscopy towards mini-invasiveness. Its most relevant indications in the field of medical thoracoscopy are small effusions, pleural effusions in patients with narrow intercostal spaces and suspected tuberculous pleurisy in areas of low incidence of tubercul...

Minithoracoscopy: a less invasive approach to thoracoscopy.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To evaluate minithoracoscopy using 3-mm instrumentation for diagnosis of pleural effusions. In the initial phase of the study, minithoracoscopy was used only for small loculated effusions not accessible with standard-sized endoscopes. Indication was later extended to larger nonloculated effusions that could have been examined using conventional thoracoscopy. PATIENTS A total ...

The centenary of medical thoracoscopy.

New Challenges in Medical Thoracoscopy

Thoracoscopy is currently the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases. Its diagnostic yield is 95% in patients with malignant pleural disease, with approximately 90% successful pleurodesis for malignant pleural effusion and 95% for pneumothorax. At the same time, thoracoscopy constitutes an important tool in the research of pleural pathophysiology and molecular biology...

Advanced techniques in medical thoracoscopy.

For expert pulmonologists, advanced procedures in medical thoracoscopy are the nonroutine and more complex applications of the method. The main current indications are the treatment of infected pleural space, forceps lung biopsy and sympathectomy. In parapneumonic effusions and empyema, medical thoracoscopy is as a drainage procedure, intermediate between tube thoracostomy and video-assisted th...