Experience in medical thoracoscopy: a 4-year retrospective study

Objective The aim was to document our experience in rigid medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural effusion of undetermined origin in a 4-year retrospective study regarding its safety, complications, and diagnostic yield. Patients and methods Data of 134 patients who underwent medical thoracoscopy in Alexandria Main University Hospital, Chest Department, for diagnosing pleural effusion of undetermined origin were reviewed to assess the diagnostic yield, safety, and complications of rigid medical thoracoscopy. Results We reviewed records of 134 patients [62 (46%) males and 72 (54%) females]. Their mean age was 54 +/- 13.43 years. On combining histopathological and bacteriological examination results of thoracoscopic pleural biopsies, all patients were finally diagnosed, except for 13 (10%) patients who remained idiopathic; 97 (72%) patients were diagnosed as having malignant pleural effusion and 24 (18%) patients were diagnosed as having benign pleural effusion. The commonest complication encountered was postprocedural pain (35%), followed by subcutaneous emphysema (19%). Overall, the procedure was safe even in elderly patients. No procedure-related mortality was reported. Conclusion Medical thoracoscopy, in our experience, is a safe and well-tolerated procedure even in elderly patients with high diagnostic yield.