Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Local Anesthetic Thoracoscopy for Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion
03:22

Local Anesthetic Thoracoscopy for Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion

Published on: November 10, 2023

1.5K

Quality of life after interventions for malignant pleural effusions: a systematic review

Parthipan Sivakumar1, Anita Saigal2, Liju Ahmed3

  • 1Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, King's College London School of Medical Education, London, UK deepan.sivakumar@kcl.ac.uk.

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
|June 28, 2019
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Malignant pleural effusion interventions like talc slurry pleurodesis and indwelling pleural catheters offer short-term quality of life improvements. However, high attrition rates limit long-term data and evidence on the most effective strategy remains limited.

Area of Science:

  • Pulmonology
  • Oncology
  • Palliative Care

Background:

  • Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) significantly impairs patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and causes breathlessness.
  • Invasive interventions are used to manage MPE, but their impact on HRQOL requires thorough review.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review the literature on HRQOL outcomes following invasive interventions for malignant pleural effusion.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic thoracocentesis, talc slurry pleurodesis, indwelling pleural catheter insertion, and thoracoscopic talc poudrage.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic search of five electronic databases was conducted, with assessments completed by June 2018.
  • Included studies focused on HRQOL outcomes for specific MPE interventions.
  • Meta-analysis was precluded by significant heterogeneity in the collected data.

Main Results:

  • Seventeen studies involving 2515 patients reported HRQOL outcomes.
  • Thoracoscopic talc poudrage, talc slurry, and indwelling pleural catheters showed modest, inconsistent HRQOL improvements up to 12 weeks.
  • No significant differences in HRQOL were observed between interventions at any time point. Attrition rates at 3 months were high (48.3%), and study quality was generally inadequate.

Conclusions:

  • Interventions such as thoracoscopic talc poudrage, talc slurry, and indwelling pleural catheters may enhance HRQOL in MPE patients over 4-12 weeks.
  • Insufficient long-term data exists due to high patient attrition rates.
  • Limited randomized or comparative studies restrict evidence on optimal treatment strategies for MPE.
Keywords:
pleural effusionquality of lifetalc pleurodesisthoracoscopy

More Related Videos

A Pleural Effusion Model in Rats by Intratracheal Instillation of Polyacrylate/Nanosilica03:32

A Pleural Effusion Model in Rats by Intratracheal Instillation of Polyacrylate/Nanosilica

Published on: April 12, 2019

8.3K
Generation and Expansion of Primary, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Tumor Lines08:01

Generation and Expansion of Primary, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Tumor Lines

Published on: April 21, 2022

2.2K

Related Concept Videos

Pleural Effusion I: Introduction01:25

Pleural Effusion I: Introduction

Pleural effusion is an abnormal fluid accumulation in the pleural cavity, a narrow space between the lungs and the chest wall. It is not a disease per se but rather a symptom or indication of an underlying disease. In normal circumstances, this space contains a small amount of fluid (5 to 15 mL), a lubricant facilitating the non-frictional movement of the pleural surfaces.
There are two main types of pleural effusion: transudative and exudative. They are differentiated using Light's...
4.1K
Pleural Effusion II: Symptoms and Management01:28

Pleural Effusion II: Symptoms and Management

Pleural Effusion Overview
A pleural effusion is the abnormal collection of fluid between the parietal and visceral pleura layers of tissue that form the lining of the lungs and chest cavity. It can occur independently or due to surrounding parenchymal diseases, such as infection, malignancy, or inflammatory conditions.
Clinical Manifestations:
685
Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion03:48

Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion

Although gaseous molecules travel at tremendous speeds (hundreds of meters per second), they collide with other gaseous molecules and travel in many different directions before reaching the desired target. At room temperature, a gaseous molecule will experience billions of collisions per second. The mean free path is the average distance a molecule travels between collisions. The mean free path increases with decreasing pressure; in general, the mean free path for a gaseous molecule will be...
31.2K
Half-life of a Reaction02:42

Half-life of a Reaction

The half-life of a reaction (t1/2) is the time required for one-half of a given amount of reactant to be consumed. In each succeeding half-life, half of the remaining concentration of the reactant is consumed. For example, during the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, during the first half-life (from 0.00 hours to 6.00 hours), the concentration of H2O2 decreases from 1.000 M to 0.500 M. During the second half-life (from 6.00 hours to 12.00 hours), the concentration decreases from 0.500 M to...
38.8K
Review and Preview01:10

Review and Preview

In statistics, several tools are used to interpret the data. Measures of central tendency represent the characteristics of the data, such as mean, median, and mode. Additionally, measures of variance like standard deviation and range are used to find the spread of data from the mean. Relative standing measures the distance between data locations. Commonly used measures of relative standings are percentile, z score, and quartiles.
Percentiles are a type of fractile that partition data into...
8.3K
Review and Preview01:13

Review and Preview

Data are individual items of information obtained from a population or sample. Data may be classified as qualitative (categorical), quantitative continuous, or quantitative discrete. Because it is not practical to measure the entire population in a study, researchers use samples to represent the population. A random sample is a representative group from the population chosen by using a method that gives each individual in the population an equal chance of being included in the sample. Random...
10.9K