Chest tube drainage under radiological guidance for pleural effusion and pneumothorax in a tertiary care university teaching hospital: Review of 51 cases.

BACKGROUND: Chest tube drainage under radiological guidance has been used with increasing frequency as a treatment option for pleural effusions and pneumothoraxes. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and usefulness of pleural drainage under radiological guidance for pleural effusion and pneumothorax in a tertiary care university teaching hospital. METHODS: A retrospective study of cases of chest tube placement under radiological guidance over a 12-month period in a university hospital. RESULTS: Fifty-one percutaneous pigtail catheter drainage cases were reviewed (30 patients). Forty-six (90%) chest tubes were inserted as a first-line treatment. The overall success rate of radiological drainage was 88%. Specific success rates were 92%, 85% and 91% for loculated pleural effusion, pneumothorax and empyema, respectively. The complications were few and minor. CONCLUSIONS: Pigtail catheter insertion under radiological guidance is a useful procedure for the treatment of sterile pleural effusion, empyema and pneumothorax. This technique can be used as a first-line procedure in the majority of cases.

Arthrography of the shoulder: a simple fluoroscopically guided approach for targeting the rotator cuff interval.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to describe a simplified fluoroscopically guided technique of shoulder joint injection that uses the rotator cuff interval. CONCLUSION: Shoulder arthrography using an anterior approach through the rotator cuff interval is an effective, rapid, and easy-to-perform injection technique. In most patients, this technique can be performed using a 1.5-inch (3.8-cm), 22-gauge needle.