The role of videothoracoscopy and pleurodesis in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory pleural effusions

Abstract

The objective of the study is еo evaluate the possibilities of videothoracoscopy in the cases of pleurisy of inflammatory nature of specific and non-specific etiology.Material and methods. We carried out the retrospective analysis of medical histories of 135 patients.. Parapneumonic pleurisy was diagnosed in 68 (54.4 %) patients, tuberculous pleurisy – in 57 (45.6 %) patients.Results. Videothoracoscopy was diagnostic procedure in 61.6 % of patients and was performed for the defragmentation of pleurisy in 38.4 % of patients. Videothoracoscopy allows exactly diagnosing the tuberculous pleurisy by means of biopsy in the absence of lesions on the pleura. Resistant parapneumonic pleurisy was diagnosed in 34.9 % of patients. In cases of parapneumonic resistant pleurisy, the pleurodesis reduces the time of the drainage by means of injection through the drainage of mixtures of betadine and concentrated solution of glucose.

Keywords

• tuberculous pleurisy
• parapneumonic pleural effusion
• videothoracoscopy
• pleurodesis