Thoracentesis may be done to find the cause of pleural effusion. It can also be done to treat symptoms of pleural effusion by removing fluid. The fluid is then examined in a lab. Air in the space between the lung covering pleural space that causes the lung to collapse pneumothorax. Your risks may vary depending on your general health and other factors.
Ask your healthcare provider which risks apply most to you. Talk about any concerns you have. Your healthcare provider will explain the procedure to you. Ask any questions you have. You may be asked to sign a consent form that gives permission to do the procedure. Read the form carefully. Ask questions if anything is not clear. Are sensitive to or allergic to any medicines, latex, tape, or anesthetic medicines local and general. Take any medicines, including prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, herbs, and other supplements.
Take blood-thinning medicine anticoagulant , aspirin, or other medicines that affect blood clotting. Stop taking certain medicines before the procedure, if instructed by your healthcare provider. You may have imaging tests before the procedure. These are done to find the location of the fluid to be removed.
You may have any of the below:. You may have your procedure as an outpatient. This means you go home the same day. Or it may be done as part of a longer stay in the hospital. The way the procedure is done may vary. It depends on your condition and your healthcare provider's methods. In most cases, a thoracentesis will follow this process:.
Liver or spleen injuries are rare complications. Visit Thoracentesis for more information about this topic. Learn more about participating in a clinical trial. View all trials from ClinicalTrials. Visit Children and Clinical Studies to hear experts, parents, and children talk about their experiences with clinical research. Thoracentesis is a procedure in which a needle is inserted into the pleural space between the lungs and the chest wall to remove excess fluid from the pleural space to help you breathe easier.
More Information. Pleural Disorders. The best way is to treat the cause of the effusion. If the cause is pneumonia, a doctor will likely prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection, which may also cause the fluid to go away. If fluid build-up has been caused by congestive heart failure, a physician will likely prescribe diuretics, such as Lasix, for treatment.
For large pleural effusions, or for those with an unknown cause, the fluid will need to be drained through a procedure called thoracentesis. This involves inserting a needle in the space between the lung and the chest wall and draining the liquid. In these cases, a doctor may also send a sample of fluid to be tested for other causes, such as lung cancer, for example.
Some patients may require a pleural drain that is inserted through the skin so that the buildup of fluid can be drained repeatedly without the need for repeated thoracentesis. For lung cancer patients, he explains, the buildup is likely to occur again. At Yale Medicine, patients receive care from a team of physicians who specialize in dealing with pleural effusions. The clinical care team includes a physician assistant and an advanced practice registered nurse who are trained in this subspecialty.
What makes Yale especially unique, Dr. Puchalski adds, is our ability to perform bilateral thoracenteses. This means that a patient can have fluid build-up removed from both lung areas in a single treatment, rather than scheduling two separate procedures.
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