title: Video-assisted thoracoscopic treatment of pleural empyema. A new therapeutic approach.
abstract: Pleural empyema is a disease which is not always recognized. Despite consecutive treatment and antibiotics its mortality rate is still high, especially in older patients with concomitant disease or in the case of delayed treatment. We report our experience with early video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery of pleural empyema in 13 patients, where chest tube drainage had failed. The clinical symptoms of empyema did not exceed 14 days, bacteriologic cultures were positive in 62%. In all patients the fever disappeared within 1 to 5 days (mean 3.5) post-operatively and they remained in hospital for an average of 11.5 days after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Pulmonary function tests 6 months later revealed normal values without a substantial loss of lung volumes. No relapse of empyema occurred.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Striffeler
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Ris
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Würsten
authors.forename: V I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Hof
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stirnemann
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Althaus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery*; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014741:Video Recording