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Updated: May 1, 2026

Local Anesthetic Thoracoscopy for Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion
Published on: November 10, 2023
Recommendations of diagnosis and treatment of pleural effusion. Update
Victoria Villena Garrido1, Enrique Cases Viedma2, Alberto Fernández Villar3
1Servicio de Neumología, Fundación Investigación, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, CIBERES, Madrid, España.
Abstract:
Although during the last few years there have been several important changes in the diagnostic or therapeutic methods, pleural effusion is still one of the diseases that the respiratory specialist have to evaluate frequently. The aim of this paper is to update the knowledge about pleural effusions, rather than to review the causes of pleural diseases exhaustively. These recommendations have a longer extension for the subjects with a direct clinical usefulness, but a slight update of other pleural diseases has been also included. Among the main scientific advantages are included the thoracic ultrasonography, the intrapleural fibrinolytics, the pleurodesis agents, or the new pleural drainages techniques.
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