Current opinion in pulmonary medicine
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The incidence of pleural effusions in the intensive care unit varies depending on the screening methods, from approximately 8% for physical examination to more than 60% for routine ultrasonography. Several factors contribute to the occurrence of pleural effusions in intensive care unit patients: large amounts of intravenous fluid are often administered, pneumonia is common, and heart failure, atelectasis, extravascular catheter migration, hypoalbuminemia, or liver disease are present in many intensive care unit patients. In surgical intensive care units, cardiac or abdominal surgery is often followed by pleural effusions, and in trauma patients, hemothorax is a dreaded event. ⋯ Thoracentesis is safe in mechanically ventilated patients. The author discusses the following points regarding pleural effusions in the intensive care unit: screening intensive care unit patients for pleural effusion, safety of thoracentesis in patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, distinguishing exudates from transudates, and diagnosing and managing infected pleural effusions in critically ill patients. Lastly, the author suggests a research agenda for pleural effusions in intensive care unit patients.
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The authors summarize the current applications of chest ultrasonography in the diagnosis and management of various pleural diseases. Ultrasound has been proved to be valuable for the evaluation of a wide variety of chest diseases, particularly when the pleural cavity is involved. Chest ultrasound can supplement other imaging modalities of the chest and guides a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. ⋯ Many ultrasound features and signs of these diseases have been well characterized and widely applied in clinical practice. Under real-time ultrasound guidance the success rates of invasive procedures on pleural diseases increase significantly whereas the risks are greatly reduced. The advantages of low-cost, bedside availability and no radiation exposure have made ultrasound an indispensable diagnostic tool in modern pulmonary medicine.
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A hepatic hydrothorax is a pleural effusion that develops in a patient with cirrhosis and portal hypertension in the absence of cardiopulmonary disease. The pleural effusion is derived from ascitic fluid that enters the chest because of the negative pressure within the pleural space via defects in the diaphragm. The peritoneal-to-pleural flow of fluid can be demonstrated by nuclear scanning, even when the ascites is not clinically apparent. ⋯ Treatment of the hydrothorax is directed at the underlying liver disease but a dyspneic patient can obtain relief from a thoracentesis or paracentesis. When medical therapy fails, liver transplantation is the treatment of choice. Both transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunting and thoracoscopic repair of diaphragmatic defects with pleural sclerosis can provide symptomatic relief, but the morbidity and mortality of these procedures are high because of the fragile nature of the patients.
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Review
What size chest tube? What drainage system is ideal? And other chest tube management questions.
Chest tubes and their accompanying pleural drainage units continue to present challenging questions regarding their optimal use. Appropriate chest tube size selection to accommodate the clinical situation is key, especially in the setting of large pleural air leaks lest a tension pneumothorax ensue. Connection of an appropriate pleural drainage unit to the chest tube is equally important to obviate impeding airflow after successful evacuation by the chest tube. ⋯ Smaller bore tubes may be adequate in patients with limited production of pleural air or of free-flowing pleural liquid. Chest tubes may be removed successfully at either end expiration or end inspiration, and potentially as soon as =200 mL/fluid output per day is achieved. Additional prospective studies are needed to provide evidence-based answers to the many questions remaining regarding chest tube placement, ongoing management, and removal.