The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Pleurodesis alleviates symptoms such as dyspnea, chest pain, cough and prevents recurrent pleural collections which require repeated thoracentesis. Pleurodesis improves the quality of life as a minimally invasive procedure. Chemical pleurodesis is preferred through tube thoracostomy in l...

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Main Authors: Venkateshwaran Kathamuthu, Rajeshkumar Balakrishnan, Saravanavasan Rajendran, Prabhakaran Rathinam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Association of Pulmonologist of Tamil Nadu
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/japt.japt_31_24
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author Venkateshwaran Kathamuthu
Rajeshkumar Balakrishnan
Saravanavasan Rajendran
Prabhakaran Rathinam
author_facet Venkateshwaran Kathamuthu
Rajeshkumar Balakrishnan
Saravanavasan Rajendran
Prabhakaran Rathinam
author_sort Venkateshwaran Kathamuthu
collection DOAJ
description Background: Pleurodesis alleviates symptoms such as dyspnea, chest pain, cough and prevents recurrent pleural collections which require repeated thoracentesis. Pleurodesis improves the quality of life as a minimally invasive procedure. Chemical pleurodesis is preferred through tube thoracostomy in limited resource settings. The ideal sclerosing agent should be easily administered, safe, inexpensive, and widely available. The commonly used agents in tertiary care hospitals are talc (10 mg/kg), doxycycline (100 mg/kg), and povidone-iodine (20 mL, 10%). As there was no studies comparing these three together which are widely available in all limited resource settings, this study was conducted to find an efficacious, cost-effective, and safer agent among these three used in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of the chemical pleurodesis agents used in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Methods: The study was conducted on 30 patients of malignant pleural effusion admitted to the department of respiratory medicine in the tertiary care hospital. In each of these patients, an intercostal tube of size appropriate to the patient was inserted into the fifth intercostal space along the mid-axillary line. Pleurodesis was performed in order with agents: (1) doxycycline, (2) povidone-iodine, and (3) talc, respectively, if the pleural drain was <150 mL/day and no air leak following the complete expansion of the lung after intercostal drainage. Patients were clinically and radiologically assessed with computed tomography chest on discharge, 1 month, and at the 3rd month for response. Results: Out of 30 patients, 21 patients had complete response (70%). Among those, 9 patients (43%) were treated with talc, 7 patients (33%) were treated with povidone-iodine, and 5 patients were treated with doxycycline (24%). Talc was superior and povidone was nearly efficacious to talc. But doxycycline was inferior at the end of 3 months (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Povidone-iodine had an adequate response nearly equal to the talc which was a highly efficacious pleurodesis agent. Doxycycline had 50% failure and requires repeated pleurodesis for a successful outcome. Most of the adverse events were mild to moderate and were evenly distributed in all groups and could be managed conservatively.
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spelling doaj-art-0360b4181d764cc5a1c55564722d5c192025-02-11T10:15:58ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Association of Pulmonologist of Tamil Nadu2772-63552772-63632025-01-0181172210.4103/japt.japt_31_24The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care HospitalVenkateshwaran KathamuthuRajeshkumar BalakrishnanSaravanavasan RajendranPrabhakaran RathinamBackground: Pleurodesis alleviates symptoms such as dyspnea, chest pain, cough and prevents recurrent pleural collections which require repeated thoracentesis. Pleurodesis improves the quality of life as a minimally invasive procedure. Chemical pleurodesis is preferred through tube thoracostomy in limited resource settings. The ideal sclerosing agent should be easily administered, safe, inexpensive, and widely available. The commonly used agents in tertiary care hospitals are talc (10 mg/kg), doxycycline (100 mg/kg), and povidone-iodine (20 mL, 10%). As there was no studies comparing these three together which are widely available in all limited resource settings, this study was conducted to find an efficacious, cost-effective, and safer agent among these three used in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of the chemical pleurodesis agents used in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Methods: The study was conducted on 30 patients of malignant pleural effusion admitted to the department of respiratory medicine in the tertiary care hospital. In each of these patients, an intercostal tube of size appropriate to the patient was inserted into the fifth intercostal space along the mid-axillary line. Pleurodesis was performed in order with agents: (1) doxycycline, (2) povidone-iodine, and (3) talc, respectively, if the pleural drain was <150 mL/day and no air leak following the complete expansion of the lung after intercostal drainage. Patients were clinically and radiologically assessed with computed tomography chest on discharge, 1 month, and at the 3rd month for response. Results: Out of 30 patients, 21 patients had complete response (70%). Among those, 9 patients (43%) were treated with talc, 7 patients (33%) were treated with povidone-iodine, and 5 patients were treated with doxycycline (24%). Talc was superior and povidone was nearly efficacious to talc. But doxycycline was inferior at the end of 3 months (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Povidone-iodine had an adequate response nearly equal to the talc which was a highly efficacious pleurodesis agent. Doxycycline had 50% failure and requires repeated pleurodesis for a successful outcome. Most of the adverse events were mild to moderate and were evenly distributed in all groups and could be managed conservatively.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/japt.japt_31_24chemical agentsmalignant pleural effusionpleurodesistreatment outcome
spellingShingle Venkateshwaran Kathamuthu
Rajeshkumar Balakrishnan
Saravanavasan Rajendran
Prabhakaran Rathinam
The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital
Journal of Association of Pulmonologist of Tamil Nadu
chemical agents
malignant pleural effusion
pleurodesis
treatment outcome
title The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital
title_full The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital
title_fullStr The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital
title_full_unstemmed The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital
title_short The Safety and Efficacy of Chemical Pleurodesis Agents in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital
title_sort safety and efficacy of chemical pleurodesis agents in patients with malignant pleural effusion admitted in tertiary care hospital
topic chemical agents
malignant pleural effusion
pleurodesis
treatment outcome
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/japt.japt_31_24
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