Patient positioning after fine needle lung biopsy-effect on pneumothorax rate.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of precautionary positioning in preventing the development of pneumothorax and reducing the rate of chest tube placement after fluoroscopy-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (TTNB).


METHODS
One hundred and seven patients who underwent TTNB were randomly assigned to one of two postbiopsy treatment groups: patients were placed with (precautionary positioning group) and without (non-precautionary positioning group) recumbent puncture site either down (n = 59 and 48, respectively) for at least 30 min.


RESULTS
The overall pneumothorax rate was 8.4% (n = 9). Four of the 9 patients needed chest tube insertion. Pneumothorax rate was 8.33% (4/48) and 8.47% (5/59) in the precaution and non-precaution groups, respectively. Rate of chest tube insertion was 6.25% (n = 3) and 1.85% (n = 1) in the precaution and non-precaution groups, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of pneumothorax and chest tube insertion between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Precautionary positioning after TTNB does not reduce the incidence of postbiopsy pneumothorax and rate of chest tube insertion.
Tanisaro
K
K
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Songkla University Hospital, Hatyai, Thailand. tkomgrit@ratree.psu.ac.th
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index