Evaluation of rapid pleurodesis's succes at mali̇gn pleural effusion

Malignant pleural effusions are an important problem in patients with advanced stage malignancies. Approximately 50% of these patients develop malignant pleural effusion in the disease process. Therapeutic thoracentesis and local sclerosing treatments to prevent recurrent pleural effusion are the most commonly used palliative treatment methods for malignant pleural effusions. In our study, we used talcum as a sclerosing agent in malignant pleural effusions. At present, the most commonly used sclerosing agents for pleurodesis are talc, iodopovidone, tetracycline, doxycycline and bleomycin. We aimed to evaluate the rapid pleurodesis technique and talcum activity in our study.Study A total of 96 patients, 43 male and 53 female, who underwent pleurodesis or rapid pleurodesis using talc through thin film catheter due to malign pleural effusion between January 2010 and December 2016, were enrolled retrospectively in Department of Thoracic Surgery of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine . Patients were referred to our clinic if they had a shortness of breath or chest pain, and if they had not complained, they were told to check in at the end of the first month.A total of 96 patients with malignant pleural effusion who underwent pleurodesis via thin-wall catheter were studied. Pleurodesis was performed in 53 patients by applying a 4 gr sterile talc powder to a thin film catheter (Group-I), rapid pleurodesis was performed in 43 patients by applying a 4-gauge talc to the small-diameter catheter (Group-II). The mean age of our cases was 59.48 (23 - 104). Of the cases in the pleurodesis (group-I) group, 28 were males and 25 were females, 25 of the cases in the group of rapid pleurodesis (group-II) were male and 18 were female. In group I, total success was achieved in 42 (79.2%) patients, including 30 (56.6%) patients in complete response and 12 (22.6%) in partial response, while 11 patients (20.8%) were considered as unsuccessful. In Group II, 11 patients (25.6%) were accepted as unsuccessful, while 18 patients (41.9%) had complete response and 14 patients (32.6%) had partial response. Statistically, there was no significant difference between the success rates of Group I and Group II (p> 0,05).The use of pleurodesis with a pleurodesis technique using a small diameter catheter does not change the effectiveness of the procedure, but it also improves the quality of life and reduces the cost by shortening the length of hospital stay in patients. Rapid pleurodesis with sterile talcum powder using a small diameter catheter is a reliable and effective method.