Talk:Pleurodesis

I would like to know if there are any risks to a chemical Pleurodesis. I have an air pocket at the top of my right lung from surgery I had Feb. 28 and has not healed yet. The chest tube has been in that long also. Thanks, Kathy

Kathy,

The risks may outweigh the benefits. My daughter experienced excruciating pain during and after the chemical pleurodesis ( with tetracycline)which she elected to try.

She would not recommend that procedure to anyone. Her recovery from that was more difficult than from earlier surgery.

Her three episodes of Spontaneous Pneumothorax were treated as: 1st occurence, chest tube and observation only, 2nd occurence, small incision surgery to staple bleb. . That surgery seemed to be successful until exactly one year later when she experienced 3rd occurence. All on right side.

From info we have been able to gather, consult a pulmonologist as well as the surgeon (if it is an emergency room visit and chest tube is really necessary) before you elect surgery and espcially before considering chemical pleurodesis.

We've learned that sometimes a pneumothorax will correct itself, so observation is sometimes an option the surgeon may play down.

Pneumothorax.org is a good website.

Good luck to you!

I know this is outside the scope of what a Talk page is supposed to be, but if it helps somebody who is looking for information, then so be it. My personal experience with surgical pleurodesis did not seem like it was as painful as those who have had the chemical procedure done described their pain. That being said, it was relatively invasive and did require a week long hospital stay before they took the chest tube out. I had three pneumothoraxes, the last one being quite severe. Even though I'm at risk for things like pneumonia, bronchitis or other respiratory infections (which I've never had and it's been 15 years), I would still get the procedure done in a heart beat if I had to. There's nothing more terrifying than suddenly not being able to breathe. Hope that helps. Flatcurve (talk) 19:53, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

This is a feasible 5x expansion for DYK (?) Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:24, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

External link for Dorland's Dict is out. Debtdash 4 Apr 2013 —Preceding undated comment added 05:18, 4 April 2013 (UTC)