Early use of autologous blood patch pleurodesis in children is successful in resolving persistent air leaks
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Nov 2020 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Retrospective study of 10 pediatric patients demonstrates that autologous blood patch pleurodesis is safe and effective for resolving persistent air leaks after thoracic surgery, with median intervention at 7.5 days post-surgery. The technique showed minimal morbidity across diverse underlying lung pathologies including spontaneous pneumothorax, malignancy, and empyema.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Structured abstract
Purpose
Experience with autologous blood patch (ABP) pleurodesis for persistent air leak in the pediatric population is limited. The purpose of this series was to describe the experience with ABP at a single tertiary children's hospital.
Methods
A retrospective study was performed of all thoracic procedures done by the pediatric surgery service over three years.
Results
Ten patients underwent a total of 17 ABPs. The median age of patients was 12 years (IQR 6–16). The most common underlying reasons for a thoracic procedure included: blebectomy for spontaneous pneumothorax (2), need for lung biopsy (2), resection of known malignant tumor (2), and empyema (2). The median number of days of persistent air leak before first ABP was 7.5 days (IQR 7–10). A second ABP was performed in 6 cases with a third procedure performed in one case. None of the patients developed respiratory compromise during ABP and no infectious complications were identified following ABP.
Conclusions
Our cohort demonstrates that ABP for persistent air leak following thoracic surgery is effective with minimal morbidity in children. We believe ABP can be used early and in patients with a broad range of underlying lung pathology.