The value of semirigid thoracoscopy in diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases

Objective To evaluate the value and feasibility of semirigid thoracoscopy in diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases.Methods Semirigid thoracoscopy on 114 patients were performed under local anesthesia with Olympus LTF-240 thoracoscope.Results Etiologic causes were determined in 80.1%(58/72 cases) of pleural effusion cases,and the diagnosed cases included pleural metastasis tumor from lung cancer 38 cases,from esophageal cancer 1 case,malignant mesothelioma 3 cases,tuberculous pleurisy 15 cases,silicosis 1 case.The undetermined cases included nonspecific inflammation 12 cases and no abnormal 2 cases.2 cases of pleural metastasis were confirmed in the staging of 6 lung cancer cases.The cure rate of pneumothorax was 53.8%(7/13 cases) and for empyema,the cure rate was 100%(6/6 cases).The achievement ratio was 100%(28/28 cases) in talc pleurodesis for the treatment of pleural effusion.There was no serious complication.Conclusions Semirigid thoracoscopy is an easy tolerance,safe,less invasive and low expension examination.It is effective and practical to diagnose pleural diseases of unknown etiology and to treat refractory pleural effusion and empyema.