[Ultrasonically guided drainage of pleural empyema]

Sufficient drainage of the infected pleural space may be difficult without other image guidance than simple frontal and lateral chest radiograms. When the suspected empyema is difficult to locate we recommend insertion of a 10F pigtail catheter guided by ultrasound. This is illustrated by two patient histories. The method is safe, with the advantage of a precise localisation of the drainage catheter in relation to the empyema, the lung and the diaphragm.