Ultrasound-guided pigtail catheters for drainage of various pleural diseases

Little is known about the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided pigtail catheters for the management of various pleural diseases in the emergency department, ward, and intensive care unit.

We conducted a retrospective study in a university hospital during a 1-year interval.

A total of 276 patients (178 men and 98 women) underwent 332 pigtail catheters (the drain size ranged from 10F to 16F) under ultrasound guidance. The mean ± SEM patient age was 59 ± 18 years, and mean duration of drainage was 6.1 ± 2 days. A total of 64 drains (19.2%) were inserted for pneumothoraces; 98 drains (29.5%), for malignant effusions; 119 drains (35.8%), for parapneumonic effusions/empyemas; and 38 drains (11.4%), for massive transudate pleural effusions. The overall success rate was 72.9%. The success rate was highest when the drain was used to treat massive transudate effusions (81.6%) and malignant pleural effusions (75.5%), followed by parapneumonic effusions/empyemas (72.2%), hemothoraces (66.6%), and pneumothoraces (64.0%). Only 10 (3.0%) drains had complications due to the procedure, including infection (n = 4, 1.2%), dislodgment (n = 4, 1.2%), wound bleeding at the pigtail catheter puncture area complicated with hemothoraces (n = 1, 0.3%), and lung puncture (n = 1, 0.3%). There was no significant difference in success rate when different catheter sizes were used to treat pleural diseases.

Ultrasound-guided pigtail catheters provide a safe and effective method of draining various pleural diseases. We strongly suggest that ultrasound-guided pigtail catheters be considered as the initial draining method for a variety of pleural diseases.