Ambreen Abid, Tanveer Ahmad, Khalil Ahmed Shaikh, Shagufta Nasreen, Nazish Sikander, Misauq Mazcuri.
Video Assisted Thoracoscopy as a therapeutic modality in evacuating retained or clotted haemothoraces..
J Pak Med Assoc Jan ;71(5):1428-31.

To determine the role of video-assisted thoracoscopy for evacuating retained / clotted haemothoraces to minimise the duration of chest tube drainage and length of hospital stay. The prospective cohort study was conducted from July 2019 to February 2020 at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, and comprised consecutive patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopy for retained or clotted haemothoraces. Outcome was measured as evacuation of retained haemothoraces resulting in partial or complete lung expansion and length of hospital stay. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Of the 160 patients, 128(80%) were males and 32(20%) were females. The overall mean age was 36.08±11.91 years. Overall, 103(64.37%) patients underwent the procedure in within 4-7 days, and 57(35.63%) within 8-14 days. Complete lung expansion was achieved in 95(71.9%) patients when the procedure was performed in the first week, and in 37(28.1%) when performed in the second week (p=0.01). Within the first week, 87(84.4%) patients had shorter duration of stay compared to patients having undergone the procedure in the second week (p=0.001). Relapse of collection was found in 21(13.7%) patients. Video-assisted thoracoscopy was found to be a safe, reliable and effective technique for the evacuation of retained haemothorax in haemodynamically stable patients. Early intervention resulted in better outcome.

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