Successful treatment of postoperative chylothorax using an external pleuroperitoneal shunt.
We report 3 patients with chylothorax who were successfully managed as outpatients using external pleuroperitoneal shunts. This external shunt has the advantage over subcutaneously placed shunts of pumping large volumes of fluid with each compression of the pumping chamber, of not causing the discomfort associated with pumping a subcutaneous chamber, of not becoming difficult to find in the subcutaneous space, and of being constructed of larger components which do not kink or become easily clogged with fibrinous debris.
Cummings
S P
SP
Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville 22908.
Wyatt
D A
DA
Baker
J W
JW
Flanagan
T L
TL
Spotnitz
W D
WD
Rodgers
B M
BM
Kron
I L
IL
Tribble
C G
CG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D002916:Chylothorax / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010529:Peritoneal Cavity; D010994:Pleura; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery*; D011859:Radiography