Abstract
Malignant pleural effusion is a complication of advanced cancer that causes distressing dyspnoea (breathlessness). An indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) is an option for the management of recurrent effusions; however, patients’ experiences of IPC treatment have not been studied in detail.This article describes a service evaluation that was undertaken to explore patients’ experiences of IPC treatment when discharged home following insertion. Ten patients with malignant pleural effusion undergoing IPC insertion participated in semi-structured interviews, and the data from these were thematically analysed using the framework method. It was found that most patients reported symptomatic improvement as a result of the IPC, but this did not correlate with functional improvement. One patient had no symptomatic or functional improvement and regretted having the procedure. The IPC was preferred by patients compared with other management interventions they had received previously. Further studies are required to identify which patients are unlikely to experience symptomatic benefit from the use of IPCs.
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