Indwelling pleural catheter for malignant pleural effusion: a real-life experience in a tertiary centre with a dedicated pleural service in the Republic of Ireland.

BACKGROUND

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a significant cost of burden and carries a poor prognosis with a median survival of 3-12 months. Indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) have been shown to be effective in improving symptoms in patients with MPE. This study reports our 5-year real-life experience with IPC in patients with MPE from a hospital with a dedicated pleural service in the Republic of Ireland.

METHODOLOGY: This is a retrospective, single-centre study based in a tertiary hospital. All patients who had IPC inserted by the pleural service in a 5-year period (1st of January 2019 until 31 December 2023) were included in this study. Patients' clinical details and histology results were acquired via the hospital's electronic medical records.

RESULTS

During the 5-year period, there were 55 patients who had IPC inserted. Symptom improvement was achieved in almost all patients (n = 54, 98.2%). Our total complication rate was low at 14.5% (n = 8), with the majority being catheter-associated skin infection. Pleurodesis was achieved in 21 (47.8%) patients with the mean and median time to pleurodesis were 115.5 days and 94 days, respectively.

CONCLUSION

IPC is a relatively safe procedure with low complication rates when performed by trained physicians. The additional support of a dedicated pleural service will maximize the benefits of IPC while reducing the complication rates.