Sebastian Samuelsson, Fridolf Karlin, Magnus Ekström
BACKGROUND: Small-bore chest drains are now the most common drains for treating pleural effusion (PE), but knowledge on complications is limited especially in malignant PE and empyema. We aimed to evaluate rate of complications of ultrasound guided small bore chest drains [6-10 French (F)] by PE etiology. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of 484 chest drains inserted in 330 adults in a Swedish department 2018-2020. Rate of complications (blockage, dislocation, infection, or misplacement) and repeat intervention (new drain within 2 weeks or surgery) was analyzed by effusion type (organ failure, parapneumonic, malignant, empyema, other, unknown), age, sex, seniority of radiologist, and bore size using multivariable logistic regression...
March 29, 2024: Journal of Thoracic Disease