The primary role of surgical therapy is to drain the pleural fluid and prevent fluid from building up again. Therapeutic aspiration may be sufficient; larger effusions may require insertion of an intercostal drain. Therapeutic thoracentesis is performed if the fluid collection is large and causing chest pressure, shortness of breath, or other breathing problems, such as hypoxia. Removing the fluid allows the lung to expand, making breathing easier. In people with cancer or infections, the effusion is often treated by using a chest tube for several days to drain the fluid.
Sometimes, small tubes can be left in the pleural cavity for an extended time to drain the fluid. Repeated effusions may require chemical (talc, bleomycin, tetracycline/doxycycline) or surgical pleurodesis, in which the two pleural surfaces are attached to each other so that no fluid can accumulate between them.
Pleural effusion surgery
Pneumothorax surgery
Hemothorax surgery
Pulmonary edema surgery
Lung abscess surgery
Pulmonary nodule Interventions
Pleural effusion medical therapy
Aspiration pneumonia surgery