Day Case Thoracocoscopy With IPC Insertion

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs a large pleural service. Local anaesthetic medical thoracoscopy (LAT) is a well-established procedure in undiagnosed pleural effusions. Patients were traditionally admitted for a mean of 3.4 days and had a large bore drain inserted post LAT with pleurodesis. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced day case LAT provision with IPC placement without pleurodesis to minimise transmission risk. We describe our experience. LAT is performed in theatre under conscious sedation. Methods: All notes of patients requiring day case LAT between July 2020-Feb 2021 were analysed. Basic demographics and outcomes were collected. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed. Results: 17 patients underwent day case LAT. All had negative pre-operative Covid-19 swabs mean age 70.8 years (range 34-82), 12 male,5 female. Diagnoses included 5 lung cancers, 6 mesotheliomas and 4 fibrinous pleuritis. The lung did not deflate, not enabling biopsies in 2. Non-malignant diagnoses are currently presumed. 14 IPCs and 2 large bore drain were inserted due to 2 immediate complication (surgical emphysema). 1 patient developed an empyema within 30days. 9 out of the 11 IPCs have already been removed due to pleurodesis occurring (mean number days 60. All were discharged on the same day except the two requiring further drain insertion. Conclusion: We have thus transformed our service after more than a decade of providing LAT as an inpatient service. This is a small cohort of patients but proves the feasibility and safety of day case LAT with massive reduction in inpatient stay. The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed our service but for the better. Further qualitative work should elucidate the acceptability of such a pathway for patients. Keywords medical thoracoscopy, lung cancer, covid-19