Comparison between Rapid and Standard procedure Pleurodesis outcome in Malignant Pleural Effusion

Abstract

Background: The terminal stage of cancer with distant metastasis often concurrent with malignant pleural effusion (MPE), which is the complication in lung cancer cases. Pleurodesis was performed by inserting a sclerosing agent through the thoracal drain after the pleural fluid was evacuated. Objective: to determine whether rapid pleurodesis is more efficient and effective than the standard procedure pleurodesis in MPE patients. Methods: This experimental study using randomized posttest-only control group design and divided into two groups (standard procedure pleurodesis group and rapid pleurodesis group). All of the samples were inpatient with MPE requiring pleurodesis and eligible with the inclusion criteria as samples. Pleurodesis procedure was performed by inserting a sclerosing agent through the thoracic drain after fluid well evacuated using talc slurry, and evaluated 1 month after pleurodesis procedure. All data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A total of 25 samples were included in this study. Our study suggests that standard procedure findings were the same as the rapid group (90.9% vs. 81.81%; p = 0.30). But the rapid group was had a shorter length of stay compared with the standard group (24.62 vs. 29.08 days; p = 0.42) and cheaper (USD 1,700 vs. USD 1,876; p = 0.98). Pain and fever were common complications in both groups. Conclusions: Rapid and standard pleurodesis groups showed the same efficiency and effectivity rates in treating MPE patients. However, the rapid pleurodesis group has a shorter length of stay and cheaper, but there was no statistically difference.