subject: Understanding Pleural Effusion [print this page] Known as "water in the lungs," pleural effusion refers to the accumulation of large amounts of fluid in the pleural cavity. A small amount of fluid is usually present in the pleura to soften the lining of the lungs to facilitate breathing.
Reasons
Pleural effusion is a common condition medical. According to the National Cancer Institute, the disease affects about 100,000 Americans each year. And classified according to the cause of effusion. Both types are transudative and exudative.
Transudative effusion is caused by a number of factors, including pulmonary embolism, and heart failure after open heart surgery, and cirrhosis of the liver.
On the other hand, the main causes of the sacrifice the effusions of cancer, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and inflammatory diseases, diseases of the kidney.
Gravity
The seriousness of the presence of effusion status depends mainly on the underlying cause, the probability of treatment, and whether there was a difficulty in breathing. The two parameters are important in the treatment of: mechanical issues and the root cause of the problem.
Symptoms
Some patients with effusion has no symptoms, and discovered the problem only when subject to a chest radiograph for a different reason.
The following are the most common symptoms of effusion:
Chest pain, dry cough, difficulty in breathing
Diagnosis
There are several tests used to diagnose the presence of effusion, such as:
Thoracentesis Chest CT Ultrasound X-ray (for a sample of the fluid) analysis of pleural fluid (liquid test sample extracted from the pleural cavity)
Thoracoscopy, can be performed by a minimally invasive procedure when less invasive techniques previously unable to diagnose the presence of effusion. It is known thoracoscopy and video-assisted thoracic surgery (basins) is with the patient under general anesthesia, which allows the surgeon to perform a more accurate assessment of the pleura. In such cases, is often a combination of diagnosis and treatment.
Treatment
Effusion treatment aimed at addressing the underlying cause of this problem depends on whether or not occur severe problems with breathing, such as difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath.
When this happens effusion because of a medical problem, such as congestive heart failure, and can be given diuretics, medicines used to treat a specific health condition. In malignant cases, treatment may include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or drug injection in the chest.
If the effusion was the cause of respiratory problems, you may thoracostomy (the process of inserting a tube in the chest) or thoracentesis be necessary to drain the fluid.
To avoid duplicate effusion, multiple sclerosis can be done using pleural sclerosing agents such as doxycycline, tetracycline, and talc. This technique has shown success rates of 50 percent.
Surgery for pleural effusion
Surgical treatment can be made if it can not deal with the less invasive procedures effusion mentioned above.
There are two types of surgical procedures applied to the effusion:
Video thoracoscopy surgery (VATS)
As is known, this procedure and thoracic surgery and should be 1-3 small incisions in the chest. Apply this method when it is difficult to drain the fluid in the pleural fluid, and when he returned a result of a malignant tumor.
Thoracotomy (open surgery)
This method is performed when the infection involved. In this procedure, an incision is made in the chest, and size ranges from 6 to 8 inches. Thoracotomy has been to get rid of all fibrous tissue, and helps to eliminate the infection of the pleura. And chest tubes can be stored from one to two weeks after surgery to ensure that the liquid completely drained.
We will carefully evaluate the surgeon to the patient's condition to determine the safest treatment available, and make you aware of the risks and potential benefits of each method.
