Early discharge for patients with benign pleural effusions using a Wayne catheter (pigtail) chest drain - analysis of safety, complications, and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: to assess safety, efficacy and quality of life in patients with benign pleural effusions undergong pleural drainage with Wayne pleural catheter (DW) in an outpatient setting. METHOD: this is a prospective study, in which 47 patients were evaluated between July 2017 and October 2018. Patients with non-malignant pleural effusions underwent pleural drainage with clinical evolution compatible with outpatient care were included. Patients who underwent drainage due to other conditions and patients were excluded. RESULTS: after catheter placement, the mean length of hospital stay was 3.14 (± 3.85) days, and 21 patients (44.68%) were discharged within 24 hours. The mean time with the catheter was 12.63 (± 7.37) days. The analysis of the pleural fluid was transudate in 87.3% of cases and exudate in 12.3%. The causes of pleural effusion were heart failure (72.3%), renal failure (19.1%), liver failure (6.3%) and pneumonia (8.5%). The quality of life, analyzed according to the parameters of the questionnaire SF 36, showed low average values when compared to other studies. Analyzing each descriptor, the average was greater only in the limitation related to physical aspects. In the other descriptors, the results were similar, but smaller. CONCLUSION: the outpatient use of pleural catheters of the Wayne type (pigtail) proved to be feasible, safe and with a low associated infection rate. This is a viable option for selected patients.

Early discharge for patients with benign pleural effusions using a Wayne catheter (pigtail) chest drain - analysis of safety, complications, and quality of life / Alta precoce para pacientes com derrames pleurais benignos em uso de dreno pleural de Wayne (pigtail) - análise de segurança, complicações e qualidade de vida

ABSTRACT Objective: to assess safety, efficacy and quality of life in patients with benign pleural effusions undergong pleural drainage with Wayne pleural catheter (DW) in an outpatient setting. Method: this is a prospective study, in which 47 patients were evaluated between July 2017 and October 2018. Patients with non-malignant pleural effusions underwent pleural drainage with clinical evolution compatible with outpatient care were included. Patients who underwent drainage due to other conditions and patients were excluded. Results: after catheter placement, the mean length of hospital stay was 3.14 (± 3.85) days, and 21 patients (44.68%) were discharged within 24 hours. The mean time with the catheter was 12.63 (± 7.37) days. The analysis of the pleural fluid was transudate in 87.3% of cases and exudate in 12.3%. The causes of pleural effusion were heart failure (72.3%), renal failure (19.1%), liver failure (6.3%) and pneumonia (8.5%). The quality of life, analyzed according to the parameters of the questionnaire SF 36, showed low average values when compared to other studies. Analyzing each descriptor, the average was greater only in the limitation related to physical aspects. In the other descriptors, the results were similar, but smaller. Conclusion: the outpatient use of pleural catheters of the Wayne type (pigtail) proved to be feasible, safe and with a low associated infection rate. This is a viable option for selected patients.

RESUMO Objetivo: avaliar a segurança, a eficácia, as complicações e a qualidade de vida da alta precoce e acompanhamento ambulatorial de pacientes com derrames pleurais benignos submetidos à drenagem pleural com dreno de Wayne (DW). Método: estudo prospectivo, em que foram avaliados 47 pacientes entre julho de 2017 e outubro de 2018. Foram incluídos os pacientes com derrames pleurais não malignos, submetidos a drenagem pleural com evolução clínica compatível com o cuidado ambulatorial. Foram excluídos os pacientes submetidos a drenagem por outras afecções. Resultados: após a drenagem, a média do tempo de internação dos pacientes foi de 3,14 (±3,85) dias, sendo que 21 pacientes (44,68%) tiveram alta em até 24 horas após a drenagem. O tempo médio de permanência com o dreno foi de 12,63 (±7,37) dias. A análise do líquido pleural mostrou tratar-se de transudato em 87,3% dos casos e de exsudato em 12,3%. Dentre as causas do derrame pleural, destacaram-se insuficiência cardíaca (72,3%), insuficiência renal (19,1%), hepatopatias (6,3%) e pneumonias (8,5%). A qualidade de vida, analisada segundo os parâmetros do questionário SF 36, teve valores médios baixos, principalmente em relação a outros estudos. Na análise de cada descritor, a média apresentou-se maior somente na limitação por aspectos físicos. Nos demais descritores, os resultados foram semelhantes, mas menores. Conclusão: o uso ambulatorial de cateteres pleurais do tipo Wayne (pigtail) mostrou-se factível, seguro e com baixa taxa de infecções associadas. Trata-se de opção viável para pacientes selecionados.

Pneumostomy: an operative proposal for the treatment of severe diffuse pulmonary emphysema. / Pneumostomia: uma proposta operatória para o tratamento do enfisema pulmonar difuso grave.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate a new operative technique for the treatment of advanced pulmonary emphysema. METHODS: we conducted a prospective analysis of nine patients with severe pulmonary emphysema submitted to pneumostomy. The procedure was performed under local anesthesia, in the anterior thoracic wall, hemiclavicular line, in the second intercostal space, through an anterior thoracotomy of 5cm for access to the upper lobe, whose anterior segment was pinched and fixed to the parietal pleura. We carried out the pneumostomy with electrocautery and blunt insertion of an intrapulmonary drain. To assess the procedure, we performed pulmonary function tests, imaging tests, six-minute walk test, and applied quality of life questionnaires, all measured preoperatively and 30 days after the procedure. RESULTS: no deaths occurred related to the procedure. Imaging studies showed a decrease in lung volume. The pulmonary function showed a significant reduction in the residual volume. The six-minute walk test showed an increase in the distance covered in the postoperative period. There was significant improvement of the quality of life as demonstrated through questionnaires Medical Outcomes Study 36 Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Saint-George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Medical Research Council scale (MRC), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance status (ECOG). CONCLUSION: the proposed technique is feasible, safe, easy to perform and to maintain.

OBJETIVO: avaliar uma nova técnica operatória para o tratamento do enfisema pulmonar avançado. MÉTODOS: análise prospectiva de nove pacientes portadores de enfisema pulmonar grave, submetidos à pneumostomia. O procedimento foi realizado sob anestesia local, na parede torácica anterior, linha hemiclavicular, no segundo espaço intercostal, através de toracotomia anterior de 5cm para acesso ao lobo superior, cujo segmento anterior foi pinçado e fixado à pleura parietal. Realizada pneumotomia com eletrocautério e inserção romba de dispositivo (dreno) intrapulmonar. Para avaliação do procedimento, foram realizados os seguintes exames: testes de função pulmonar, exames de imagens, teste da caminhada de seis minutos e questionários de qualidade de vida, medidos todos no pré-operatório e 30 dias após o procedimento. RESULTADOS: não houve mortes relacionadas ao procedimento. Exames de imagens mostraram diminuição do volume pulmonar. A função pulmonar mostrou significante redução do volume residual. O teste de caminhada de seis minutos mostrou um aumento na distância percorrida no pós-operatório. Houve melhora significante da qualidade de vida, demonstrada por meio dos seguintes questionários: Medical Outcomes Study 36 Item Short - Form Health Survey (SF-36), Saint-George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Medical Research Council scale (MRC) e Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance status (ECOG). CONCLUSÃO: a técnica proposta é viável, segura, de fácil realização e manutenção.

Pneumostomia: uma proposta operatória para o tratamento do enfisema pulmonar difuso grave / Pneumostomy: an operative proposal for the treatment of severe diffuse pulmonary emphysema

RESUMO Objetivo: avaliar uma nova técnica operatória para o tratamento do enfisema pulmonar avançado. Métodos: análise prospectiva de nove pacientes portadores de enfisema pulmonar grave, submetidos à pneumostomia. O procedimento foi realizado sob anestesia local, na parede torácica anterior, linha hemiclavicular, no segundo espaço intercostal, através de toracotomia anterior de 5cm para acesso ao lobo superior, cujo segmento anterior foi pinçado e fixado à pleura parietal. Realizada pneumotomia com eletrocautério e inserção romba de dispositivo (dreno) intrapulmonar. Para avaliação do procedimento, foram realizados os seguintes exames: testes de função pulmonar, exames de imagens, teste da caminhada de seis minutos e questionários de qualidade de vida, medidos todos no pré-operatório e 30 dias após o procedimento. Resultados: não houve mortes relacionadas ao procedimento. Exames de imagens mostraram diminuição do volume pulmonar. A função pulmonar mostrou significante redução do volume residual. O teste de caminhada de seis minutos mostrou um aumento na distância percorrida no pós-operatório. Houve melhora significante da qualidade de vida, demonstrada por meio dos seguintes questionários: Medical Outcomes Study 36 Item Short - Form Health Survey (SF-36), Saint-George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Medical Research Council scale (MRC) e Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance status (ECOG). Conclusão: a técnica proposta é viável, segura, de fácil realização e manutenção.

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate a new operative technique for the treatment of advanced pulmonary emphysema. Methods: we conducted a prospective analysis of nine patients with severe pulmonary emphysema submitted to pneumostomy. The procedure was performed under local anesthesia, in the anterior thoracic wall, hemiclavicular line, in the second intercostal space, through an anterior thoracotomy of 5cm for access to the upper lobe, whose anterior segment was pinched and fixed to the parietal pleura. We carried out the pneumostomy with electrocautery and blunt insertion of an intrapulmonary drain. To assess the procedure, we performed pulmonary function tests, imaging tests, six-minute walk test, and applied quality of life questionnaires, all measured preoperatively and 30 days after the procedure. Results: no deaths occurred related to the procedure. Imaging studies showed a decrease in lung volume. The pulmonary function showed a significant reduction in the residual volume. The six-minute walk test showed an increase in the distance covered in the postoperative period. There was significant improvement of the quality of life as demonstrated through questionnaires Medical Outcomes Study 36 Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Saint-George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Medical Research Council scale (MRC), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance status (ECOG). Conclusion: the proposed technique is feasible, safe, easy to perform and to maintain.

Incomplete fissures are associated with increased alveolar ventilation via spiracles in severe emphysema.

OBJECTIVES: In emphysema, air can flow preferentially via collateral pathways, which can connect an entire lung when incomplete fissures are present. Spiracles are openings through the chest wall into the lung parenchyma. We previously observed increased alveolar ventilation (VA) in subjects with severe emphysema, when spiracles occurred during lung transplant operations. In this study, we set out to identify a computed tomography (CT) imaging phenotype associated with improved VA via spiracles in severe emphysema. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 4 patients with severe emphysema who exhaled ≥75% of the inhaled tidal volume via transpleural spiracles during a lung transplant operation. We used quantitative image analysis via VIDA VISION CT software to describe emphysema severity and distribution and fissure integrity from pretransplant CT scans of the chest. We analysed partial pressure of carbon dioxide and calculated estimates of VA at baseline and during spiracle ventilation. RESULTS: All 4 subjects demonstrated severe hyperinflation (total lung capacity 148 ± 24%predicted, residual volume 296 ± 79% predicted). On CT imaging, severe emphysema was present, with an average 38.7 ± 9% (range 28-50%) of lung parenchyma showing low-attenuation areas of - 950 Hounsfield units or less. Lung fissure integrity analysis demonstrated evidence of incomplete fissures (average detectable fissure integrity 67 ± 19%, range 40 ± 11-90 ± 10%). During spiracle ventilation on unchanged ventilator settings, there was a significant reduction in partial pressure of carbon dioxide (61 ± 4-35 ± 4 mmHg, P < 0.001) and increase in estimated VA (2.1 ± 0.5-3.8 ± 0.8 l/min, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Incomplete lung fissures on quantitative CT analysis seem to be a key image phenotype associated with substantial improvements in VA during transpleural ventilation via spiracles in severe emphysema.

Technical validation of pulmonary drainage for the treatment of severe pulmonary emphysema: a cadaver-based study.

OBJECTIVE: A cadaver-based study was carried out in order to describe the pulmonary drainage surgical technique, to determine whether the site for the insertion of the chest tube is appropriate and safe, and to determine the anatomical relationship of the chest tube with the chest wall, lungs, large blood vessels, and mediastinum. METHODS: Between May and November of 2011, 30 cadavers of both genders were dissected. The cadavers were provided by the Santa Casa de São Paulo Central Hospital Mortuary, located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A 7.5-cm, 24 F steel chest tube was inserted into the second intercostal space along the midclavicular line bilaterally, and we measured the distances from the tube to the main bronchi, upper lobe bronchi, subclavian vessels, pulmonary arteries, pulmonary arteries in the upper lobe, superior pulmonary vein, azygos vein, and aorta. Weight, height, and chest wall thickness, as well as laterolateral and posteroanterior diameters of the chest, were measured for each cadaver. RESULTS: Of the 30 cadavers dissected, 20 and 10 were male and female, respectively. The mean distance between the distal end of the tube and the main bronchi (right and left) was 7.2 cm (for both). CONCLUSIONS: The placement of a fixed-size chest tube in the specified position is feasible and safe, regardless of the anthropometric characteristics of the patients.

Validação técnica da drenagem pulmonar como tratamento do enfisema pulmonar avançado: estudo anatômico em cadáveres / Technical validation of pulmonary drainage for the treatment of severe pulmonary emphysema: a cadaver-based study

OBJETIVO: Descrever a técnica operatória da drenagem pulmonar através do estudo anatômico em cadáveres, determinar se o local definido para a drenagem pulmonar é adequado e seguro, e determinar a relação anatômica do tubo de drenagem com a parede torácica, pulmões, grandes vasos e mediastino. MÉTODOS: Foram dissecados 30 cadáveres de ambos os sexos, fornecidos pelo Necrotério do Hospital Central da Santa Casa de São Paulo, em São Paulo (SP) no período entre maio e novembro de 2011. Foi inserido um dreno de aço de 7,5 cm com 24 F de diâmetro no segundo espaço intercostal, na linha médio-clavicular, bilateralmente, e foi medida a distância do dreno com as seguintes estruturas: brônquios principais, brônquios dos lobos superiores, vasos subclávios, artérias pulmonares, artérias pulmonares do lobo superior, veia pulmonar superior, veia ázigos e aorta. Foram realizadas medições de peso, altura, diâmetro laterolateral do tórax, diâmetro posteroanterior do tórax e espessura da parede torácica de cada cadáver. RESULTADOS: Dos 30 cadáveres dissecados, 20 e 10 eram do sexo masculino e feminino, respectivamente. A média da extremidade distal do dreno com os brônquios principais direito e esquerdo foi de 7,2 cm. CONCLUSÕES: A utilização de um dreno torácico de tamanho fixo na posição preconizada é factível e segura, independentemente das características antropométricas do paciente.

OBJECTIVE: A cadaver-based study was carried out in order to describe the pulmonary drainage surgical technique, to determine whether the site for the insertion of the chest tube is appropriate and safe, and to determine the anatomical relationship of the chest tube with the chest wall, lungs, large blood vessels, and mediastinum. METHODS: Between May and November of 2011, 30 cadavers of both genders were dissected. The cadavers were provided by the Santa Casa de São Paulo Central Hospital Mortuary, located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A 7.5-cm, 24 F steel chest tube was inserted into the second intercostal space along the midclavicular line bilaterally, and we measured the distances from the tube to the main bronchi, upper lobe bronchi, subclavian vessels, pulmonary arteries, pulmonary arteries in the upper lobe, superior pulmonary vein, azygos vein, and aorta. Weight, height, and chest wall thickness, as well as laterolateral and posteroanterior diameters of the chest, were measured for each cadaver. RESULTS: Of the 30 cadavers dissected, 20 and 10 were male and female, respectively. The mean distance between the distal end of the tube and the main bronchi (right and left) was 7.2 cm (for both). CONCLUSIONS: The placement of a fixed-size chest tube in the specified position is feasible and safe, regardless of the anthropometric characteristics of the patients.

Mediastinal diseases: clinical and therapeutic aspects

Background: Mediastinal affections are common and encompass a great number of different diagnoses. Objective: To analyze the clinical aspects and the therapeutic response of 114 patients with mediastinal diseases treated at the Thoracic Surgery Department of Santa Casa de São Paulo Hospital, from 1979 and 1997. Method: The patients were grouped according to the benign or malignant nature of the disease, and the two groups were compared regarding gender, age bracket, symptomatology, topography of the lesion, mortality, and response to treatment. Results: Sixty-three patients had neoplasia: 31 benign and 32 malignant. Fifty-one cases were not neoplastic. No difference was found between the groups regarding gender or age bracket. Half of the patients were between 20 and 49 years of age. The anterior mediastinum was the most frequently affected compartment (66 patients), followed by the upper mediastinum (18 patients), the posterior mediastinum (16 patients), and the middle mediastinum (14 patients). The most frequent histological types were: benign thymus diseases (N = 40), mesenchymal tumors (N = 17), lymphomas (N = 15), neural tumors (N = 9), and germ cell tumors (N = 8). Malignant tumors were more frequently symptomatic (91 percent), and benign tumors were more frequent in asymptomatic patients (92 percent). The most frequent symptoms were related to myastenia gravis, followed by dyspnea and chest pain. Weight loss, anorexia and fever were significantly more frequent in patients with malignant neoplasias. Conclusions: Regarding the clinical aspects we can state that benign lesions were predominant, that mediastinal diseases were more prevalent in young adults, and that benign lesions were more frequent in asymptomatic patients. Treatment (clinical/surgical) was effective in most patients, benefiting approximately 90 percent of the patients with benign affections and 45 percent of the patients with malignant tumors. In 73 percent of the benign affections, surgical treatment was capable of achieving the cure. Mortality resulting from complications was 1.75 percent.