title: Pigtail catheter drain in the treatment of empyema thoracis.
abstract: We compared the outcome of children with empyema managed either through thoracotomy with pleural debridment, conventional stiff chest drain, or pigtail chest drain. Compared to conventional drain, children who received either thoracotomy or pigtail catheters had a significantly decreased period of drain in situ, were afebrile earlier, were clinically improved earlier, and were discharged earlier.
authors.affiliation: Cystic Fibrosis/Respiratory Unit, Department of Child Health, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pierrepoint
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Doull
mesh_terms: D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003646:Debridement; D004322:Drainage / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013908:Thoracotomy; D016896:Treatment Outcome