Malignant pleural effusions: treatment with tunneled long-term drainage catheters.
Malignant pleural effusion is a significant cause of morbidity and a poor prognostic indicator. Traditional treatments have variable success and significant drawbacks, including a length of stay in the hospital. Alternatively, a tunneled pleural catheter permits long-term drainage as an outpatient, cost-effectively controlling the effusion and related symptoms in over 80 to 90% of patients. Other advantages are the ability to treat trapped lungs and large locules. Spontaneous pleurodesis may occur in over 40% of patients, and the catheter can be used to administer sclerosant or antineoplastic agents. Complications tend to be minor and easily managed. A tunneled pleural catheter should be considered for all patients with MPE having a reasonable expectancy of being an outpatient.
Pollak
Jeffrey S
JS
Section of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8042, USA. pollak@biomed.med.yale.edu
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004322:Drainage / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000628:therapy*