Simple tube thoracostomy versus surgical debridement in complicated parapneumonic empyema management

Background: Approach to treat empyema following pulmonary infection, especially in the second stage, is disputed. Therefore, this research aimed to compare the effect of simple tube thoracostomy versus surgical debridement in complicated parapneumonic empyema management. Methods: This prospective randomized trial was conducted in Thoracic Surgery Department of Imam Khomeini Hospital of Tabriz and Dr. Shariati Hospital of Isfahan cities, Iran from March 2003 to September 2015. 104 patients with stage II empyema, divided into two groups (52 patients in each group). Group 1 was treated with simple tube thoracostomy and group 2 with surgical debridement with thoracotomy or thoracoscopy and patients had at least 2 referral after discharge. Personal information, medical history and information of complications and recurrence were recorded in two forms. Finally, data analysis was done by SPSS software version 22 (IBM SPSS, Armonk, NY, USA) and methods of Chi-square test and independent sample t-test. Results: The age-mean of patients under study was 48.17±11.13 years in group 1 and 46.21±13.58 years in group 2 and the most patients were middle-aged (between 40 to 50 years). The number of men in both groups was more than women. 44.23% of patients in group 1 and 38.46% of patients in group 2 had a history of smoking. Duration of hospitalization (P=0.005), a chest tube duration (P=0.004) and duration of treatment (P=0.005) in group 2 was significantly higher than group 1. The complications (P=0.172) and recurrence (P=0.324) in group 2 are non-significantly more than group 1. The complications of treatment, after a week in group 1, are non-significantly higher than group 2 (P=0.690), but complications of treatment after a month in both groups were equal (P=1). Conclusion: Duration of hospitalization, chest tube insertion time and duration of treatment in simple chest tube drainage treatment is shorter than surgery treatment (thoracoscopy or thoracotomy) and simple chest tube drainage treatment is more effectiveness way to treat patients with complicated parapneumonic empyema in stage 2.