title: Drainage of pediatric lung abscess by cough, catheter, or complete resection.
abstract: We treated eight children, aged 7 weeks to 17 years, for lung abscess. Each abscess followed an episode of aspiration or a bacterial pneumonia. Associated conditions were leukemia, congenital immune deficiency, endocarditis, cerebral palsy, and prematurity. Seven of the 8 children had polymicrobial infections, usually containing both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The success of medical treatment by antibiotics and chest physiotherapy was age related; 3 of the 8 children, aged 10 to 17 years, recovered on this regimen, whereas five children, aged 7 weeks to 7 years, required catheter drainage or resection for cure. Drainage by catheter pneumonostomy was performed for solitary peripheral bacterial abscesses. A large intercostal catheter was inserted into the cavity, either operatively or percutaneously. Wedge resection was performed for multiple, central, or fungal abscesses. Pneumonostomy was curative in 3 of 4 children. One chronic abscess recurred after pneumonostomy and required resection. Wedge resection was curative in the two children who came to thoracotomy; lobectomy was not necessary. Although all eight children recovered from their lung abscesses, three of them died within a year of sepsis. Lung abscess today occurs in immunocompromised children who are vulnerable to fatal infections. Chest physiotherapy is unlikely to achieve good drainage in children under 7 years of age. Medical failures can be identified within the first week of treatment. Early and aggressive surgical treatment is indicated in such children, and may be lifesaving.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002404:Catheterization; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003371:Cough; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008169:Lung Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000379:methods; D011859:Radiography; D013396:Suction / Q000379:methods