The effectiveness of blood amount used in pleurodesis to prevent prolonged air leakage.

BACKGROUND

This study aims to investigate the effects of different amounts of blood used in autologous blood patch pleurodesis on clinical outcomes in patients with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax.

METHODS

Between January 2015 and April 2019, a total of 42 patients (36 males, 6 females; mean age 52.1±16.0 years; range, 25 to 83 years) with SSP treated in our clinic with persistent air leakage for more than seven days were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups as receiving 60 mL autologous blood patch pleurodesis (Group 1, n=20) and 120 mL autologous blood patch pleurodesis (Group 2, n=22). Data including age, gender, operation side, complications, recurrence rates, time to tube withdrawal, and length of hospital stay were recorded and compared between the groups.

RESULTS

The mean duration of air leakage was 3.3±2.4 (range, 1 to 11) days, the mean number of pleurodesis was 1.6±0.7 (range, 1 to 3), the mean time to tube withdrawal was 5.2±3.3 (range, 1 to 16) days, the mean length of hospitalization was 7.1±3.6 (range, 3 to 18) days. There were statistically significant differences in all variables analyzed between Group 1 and Group 2 (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Autologous blood patch pleurodesis is an effective and safe method in the treatment of prolonged air leakage in secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. In addition, 120 mL of blood seems to be more effective option for pleurodesis.