title: Efficacy of ultrasound-guided thoracentesis catheter drainage for pleural effusion.
abstract: The factors influencing the efficacy of ultrasound-guided thoracentesis catheter drainage were investigated in the present study. A retrospective analysis of clinical data from 435 patients who presented with a pleural effusion was performed. Patients were divided into a control group and an intervention group. Thirty-seven patients in the control group were given standard care using pleural puncture to draw the excess fluid. The 398 patients in the intervention group were treated using ultrasound-guided thoracentesis catheter drainage. The rate of successful drainage of a pleural effusion was significantly higher (P<0.05), while the rate of complication was lower, in the ultrasound-guided thoracentesis cases compared to standard care treatment. In conclusion, ultrasound-guided thoracentesis catheter drainage is an efficient, safe and minimally invasive procedure to alleviate pleural effusion. The efficacy of the procedure is related to the separation of pleural effusion, drainage tube type and tube diameter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai No. 5 Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weitian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai No. 5 Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ningming
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai No. 5 Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: pleural effusion; thoracentesis catheter drainage; ultrasound