Medical Thoracoscopy in Pleural Disease: Experience from a One-Center Study

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases

article

Soo Jung Kim¹  Sun Mi Choi²  Jinwoo Lee²  Chang-Hoon Lee²  Sang-Min Lee²  Jae-Joon Yim²  Chul-Gyu Yoo²  Young Whan Kim²  Sung Koo Han²  Young Sik Park² 

[1] Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine;Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine

关键词: Thoracoscopy;    Pleural Diseases;   

DOI  :  10.4046/trd.2017.80.2.194

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases

【 摘 要 】

Background Medical thoracoscopy (MT) is a minimally invasive, endoscopic procedure for exploration of the pleural cavity under conscious sedation and local anesthesia. MT has been performed at the Seoul National University Hospital since February 2014. This paper summarizes the findings and outcomes of MT cases at this hospital. Methods Patients who had undergone MT were enrolled in the study. MT was performed by pulmonologists, using both rigid and semi-rigid thoracoscopes. During the procedure, patients were under conscious sedation with fentanyl and midazolam. Medical records were reviewed for clinical data. Results From February 2014 to January 2016, 50 procedures (47 cases) were performed (diagnostic MT, 26 cases; therapeutic MT, 24 cases). The median age of patients was 66 years (59-73 years), and 38 patients (80.9%) were male. The median procedure duration from initial incision to insertion of the chest tube was 37 minutes. The median doses of fentanyl and midazolam were 50 µg and 5 mg, respectively. All procedures were performed without unexpected events. Of the 26 cases of pleural disease with an unknown cause, 19 were successfully diagnosed using MT. Additionally, diagnostic MT provided clinically useful information in the other six patients. Therapeutic MT was very effective for treatment of malignant pleural effusion or empyema. The median number of days with chest tube drainage was 6 (3 days for diagnostic MT and 8 days for therapeutic MT). Conclusion MT is a useful and necessary procedure for both diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC