Asif Asghar, Muhammad Rashid, Imran Saeed, Bilal Umair, Mujahid Zulfiqar Ali, Mohammad Imtiaz Khan, Samar Subhani.
Comparison of video assisted thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis to pleurodesis through chest tube for malignant pleural effusion.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;5(2):297-302.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Talc Pleurodesis (VATP) to pleurodesis through chest tube for cases having Malignant Pleural effusion Design : Controlled clinical Trial Setting: Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi , 1200 bedded, tertiary care hospital. Duration: The study was conducted from Jun 2006 to Jun 2007. Sampling technique: Purposive non-probability Patients and Methods: The study was conducted at Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi from Jun 2006 to Jun 2007. After informed consent and approval from hospital ethical committee, 60 patients with proven diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion were included in the study. Minimum criteria for diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion were radiological evidence of pleural effusion on Plain X-Ray and CT-scan and presence of malignant cells in the pleural fluid. Patients with secondarily infected effusions, trapped lungs, and those with renal, hepatic, cardiac causes of effusions were excluded from the study. Patients who were fit for GA [ ASA-grade < III ] were subjected to video-assisted thoracoscopic insufflations of talc ( labeled as VATS Pleurodesis-Group A) while other had conventional pleurodesis through chest tube using talc solution (Slurry Pleurodesis-Group B). Outcome was measured along three parameters: improvement in chest pain and dyspnoea, and duration of chest tube placement. Data was entered on SPSS-10; Chi-square test and paired-sample t-test were applied to compare extubation time and level of dyspnoea and pre and post-operative pain respectively. Values, less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant [P< 0.05]. Results: Group A (VATS) had 87.5 % (14/16) (n = 16) successful pleurodesis as far as duration of chest tube drainage was concerned whereas Group B had only 54 % (13/24) (n = 24) successful pleurodesis indicating significant difference (P value < 0.05 for extubation timing). However there was no significant difference in reduction of post procedural chest pain and dyspnoea in two groups (P value > 0.05). Conclusion: Video-assisted thoracoscopic Talc pleurodesis is a better therapeutic procedure than tube thoracostomy pleurodesis for cases of malignant pleural effusion.

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