LAUSR

Introduction: There are different drainage systems and bores avalaible for the treatment of complicated paraneumonic pleural effusion (CPPE), but there is not a clear consensus on the optimal size of the chest tubes to be used. Objective: To analyze the clinical outcome of pleural drainage compairing small-bore catheters (SBC) and large-bore chest tubes (LBT). Material and Methods: Prospective non randomized clinical study. We included all patients admited in a pneumology service with CPPE between 2016-2018. Patients with underlying malignancy were excluded. The statistical analysis was performed by Student T test for quantitative variables and Chi2 for the qualitative ones. Results: There were 58 patients included in the study. Mean age 64 (12) years, 81% male. The characteristics of the pleural fluid are shown in the table attached, as mean and standard deviation: Total mortality was 5%. Obstruction of drainages SBC was 14% vs 6% in LCT (p=0,423). Days until drainage removal in SBC was 9 vs 10.6 in LCT(p=0.39). Patients with SBC had a shorter stay: 11 vs 18.3 days in LCT (p=0.003). Surgical decortication was necessary only in 10% of patients: 8,5% in SBC vs 17,6% in LCT (p=0,4). Conclusions: - Under the limits of this study, significant differences between both types of drainage could not be detected. - The SBC seems to be a safe and effective alternative for the treatment of CPPE