Homemade talc spray atomizer dedicated to flexible-rigid pleuroscope.

BACKGROUND

Thoracoscopic talc poudrage is the preferred technique for medical pleurodesis. However, commercial talc spray atomizers are not applicable with the flexible-rigid pleuroscope. Therefore, we developed a simple and cheap homemade talc spray atomizer dedicated to flexible-rigid pleuroscope.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the experience in performing talc poudrage using our homemade talc spray atomizer.

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed in 22 consecutive patients with symptomatic malignant pleural effusion undergoing thoracoscopic talc poudrage by our talc spray atomizer with the aim of performing a palliative pleurodesis.

RESULTS

Under direct flexible-rigid pleuroscopic guidance, we could instill talc throughout the pleural cavity with our talc spray atomizer in all cases. The median procedure time to instill the whole talc was 4 min 15 s. The successful pleurodesis was achieved in 77.3%.

CONCLUSIONS

We have introduced a homemade talc spray atomizer dedicated to the flexible-rigid pleuroscope. Uniform distribution of talc could be achieved without additional port placement.