[Postoperative Management of Refractory Pleural Effusion in a Patient with Esophageal Cancer Accompanied by Cirrhosis].

ABSTRACT

This study reports a case of a 61-year-old man with a chief complaint of anemia. The patient was diagnosed with esophageal cancer(Stage Ⅰ). Preoperative examination revealed alcoholic liver cirrhosis(Child-Pugh A, liver damage B). After a period of abstinence to improve liver function, minimally invasive esophagectomy, retrosternal reconstruction with a gastric tube, and two-field lymph node dissection were performed. The thoracic duct was preserved during the operation. Post- surgery, the bill pleural effusion was increased. Drainage was initiated using thoracentesis with frosemide, spironolactone, and tolvaptan. On post-operating day(POD)35, the patient was discharged; however, right pleural effusion continued to increase. Therefore, cell-free and concentrated reinfusion therapy for right pleural effusion was performed on POD 56. After the treatment, the pleural effusion was well-controlled with 20 mg of frosemide. This case suggested that cell-free and concentrated pleural effusion reinfusion therapy contributed to the management of refractory pleural effusion in patients with esophageal cancer accompanied by cirrhosis.