[Percutaneous transthoracic drainage in pleural collections--the pros and cons from the surgical viewpoint]. / Perkutanniiat transtorakalen drenazh pri plevralni kolektsii--za i protiv ot khirurgichna gledna tochka.

An attempt is made at specifying the indications for inserting percutaneous transthoracic drain after Seldinger's method. The clinical case material analyzed for the purpose covers 761 patients over a three-year period (1993 through 1995), with 329 of them drained for pneumothorax, 266--hemothorax, and 66--hemopneumothorax. In 54 cases (7.1 percent) switching to surgical draining is necessitated, in 41 (5.39 percent) correction of the drain is done because of inefficiency, and in 96 (12.61 percent)--patency checking and its restoration on the serioscope table. A classification of pathological pleural collections is suggested which proves helpful in estimating whether or not a tube thoracic or percutaneous drain should be employed. The surgeon is cautioned that his assessment should be by no means influenced by the easier procedure under the excuse that it is the method of choice for the patient. Last but not least, one should give due consideration to the financial aspects: percutaneous drainage of the pleural cavity costs about 80 DM, whereas a cigarette thoracic drain costs about 100 leva at the time of analyzing the material.