Pleuroscopy
Categories:
PLEUROSCOPY
Sources:
A Manual Of Peroral Endoscopy And Laryngeal Surgery
Foreign bodies in the pleural cavity should be immediately removed.
The esophageal speculum inserted through a small intercostal incision
makes an excellent pleuroscope, its spatular tip being of particular
value in moving the lung out of the way. This otherwise dark cavity is
thus brilliantly illuminated without the necessity of making a large
flap resection, an important factor in those cases in which there is
no infection present. The pleura and wound may be immediately closed
without drainage, if the pleura is not infected. Excessive plus
pressure or pus may require reopening. In one case in which the author
removed a foreign body by pleuroscopy, healing was by first intention
and the lung filled in a few days. Drainage tubes that have slipped up
into the empyemic cavity are foreign bodies. They are readily removed
with the retrograde esophagoscope even through the smallest fistula.
The aspirating canal keeps a clear field while searching for the
drain.