Primary early thoracoscopy and reduction in length of hospital stay and additional procedures among children with complicated pneumonia: results of a multicenter retrospective cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of initial procedure type on the length of hospital stay (LOS) and on the requirement for additional pleural fluid drainage procedures in a large multicenter cohort of children with pneumonia complicated by pleural effusion.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
Administrative database containing inpatient resource use data from 27 tertiary care children's hospitals.


METHODS
Patients between 12 months and 18 years of age diagnosed as having complicated pneumonia were eligible for the study if they were discharged from the hospital between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2005, and underwent early (within 2 days of the index hospitalization) pleural fluid drainage.


METHODS
Pleural fluid drainage, categorized as chest tube placement, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), or thoracotomy.


METHODS
The LOS and the requirement for additional pleural fluid drainage.


RESULTS
Nine hundred sixty-one of 2862 patients (33.6%) with complicated pneumonia underwent early pleural fluid drainage. Initial procedures included chest tube placement (n = 714), VATS (n = 50), and thoracotomy (n = 197). The median patient age was 4.0 years (interquartile range, 2.0-8.0 years). The median LOS was 10 days (interquartile range, 7-14 days). Two hundred ninety-eight patients (31.0%) required at least 1 additional pleural fluid drainage procedure, and 44 patients (4.6%) required more than 2 pleural fluid drainage procedures. In linear regression analysis, children undergoing primary VATS had a 24% (adjusted beta coefficient, -0.24; 95% confidence interval, -0.41 to -0.07) shorter LOS than patients undergoing primary chest tube placement; this translated into a 2.8-day reduction in the LOS for those undergoing early primary VATS. In logistic regression analysis, patients undergoing primary VATS had an 84% (adjusted odds ratio, 0.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.06-0.42) reduction in the requirement for additional pleural fluid drainage procedures compared with patients undergoing primary chest tube placement.


CONCLUSIONS
Our large retrospective multicenter study demonstrates that, compared with primary chest tube placement, primary VATS is associated with shorter LOS and fewer additional procedural interventions.
Shah
Samir S
SS
Division of Infectious Diseases, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. shahs@email.chop.edu
DiCristina
Cara M
CM
Bell
Louis M
LM
Ten Have
Tom
T
Metlay
Joshua P
JP
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States