[Pleural empyema as a complication of gastrointestinal interventions]

The diagnosis of empyema following gastrointestinal operations is usually established at an early stage (Stage I/II in 23 of our own 29 patients). The decisive factor in therapy is the careful and precise insertion of a drainage tube under radiologic control (ultrasound, CT) followed by efficient suction drainage. Nevertheless mortality in this special group of postoperative septic complications was 56%, since extrathoracic sepsis could not always be eliminated promptly enough when diffuse peritonitis was the source of sepsis.