Tuberc Respir Dis.  1998 Aug;45(4):785-794. 10.4046/trd.1998.45.4.785.

Talc Pleurodesis via Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery(VATS) in Malignant Pleural Effusions

• Park SJ
• Ahn SJ
• Kang KW
• Koh YM
• Suh GY
• Chung MP
• Kim HJ
• Kwon OJ
• Kim KM
• Kim JG
• Shim YM
• Rhee CH

• KMID: 2050095
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1998.45.4.785

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chemical pleurodesis is a widely used method for the control of symptomatic and recurrent malignant pleural effusions. Tab has been accepted to k the most effective sclerosing agent for chemical pleurodesis. This study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of talc pleurodesis via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery(VATS) in treatment of malignant pleural effusion&
METHODS
A retrospective analysis of the medical records and radiographic findings was performed. The success of the procedure was defined as daily pleural fluid drainage below l00microliter within 1 week after pleurodesis and complete expansion of tie lung on simple chest radiograph. Recurrence was defined as reaccumulation of pleural fluid on follow-up chest radiographs, arid complete response as no fluid accumulation on follow-up chest radiographs.
RESULTS
Between October 1994 and August 1996, talc pleurodesis via VATS was performed in 35 patient& Duration of follow-up ranged from 5 days to 828 days(median 79days). The initial success rate of procedure was 8S.6%(31 of 35 cases). Complete responses were observed in 92.8% at3O days, 75.7% at 90 days and 64.9% at 180 days. Postoperative complications were fever(54.3%), subcutaneous emphysema(11.4%), reexpansion pulmonary edema(2.9o%) and respiratory failure(5.7%). But procedure related mortality or respiratory failure was not found. CONCLUISON: Talc p1eurodesis via VATS is a safe and effective method F or the control of symptomatic malignant pleural effusions.

Keyword

Malignant pleural effusion; Talc; Pleurodesis; Video-assisted tboracoscopic snrgery(VATS)

MeSH Terms

Drainage
Follow-Up Studies
Lung
Medical Records
Mortality
Pleural Effusion, Malignant*
Pleurodesis*
Postoperative Complications
Radiography, Thoracic
Recurrence
Respiratory Insufficiency
Retrospective Studies
Talc*
Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted
Talc