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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare the complications of pleural effusion drainage using one-step and two-step catheters. The current study is cross-sectional-analytical. The population in this study were patients suffering from pleural effusion with any type of etiology who were candidates for drainage. Each patient was evaluated for the occurrence of complications, including early pneumothorax, delayed pneumothorax, infection, leakage, and intrapleural bleeding. Also, blockage or displacement of the catheter, volume of pleural effusion, and size of catheter used in both methods were recorded separately in each patient. In the present study, 90 patients were included in the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of these, 45 patients were randomly assigned to the one-step group and 45 patients to the two-step group. The median age and interquartile range (IQR) of the patients in this study were 57.5 and 20.5 years respectively (age range 34 to 81 years). Also, 61.1% of the patient population in this study were men. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of early pneumothorax, delayed pneumothorax, infection, leakage, and intrapleural bleeding between the two study groups. The incidence of intrapleural bleeding and delayed pneumothorax was higher in the one-step group than in the two-step group (respectively, 13.3% vs. 4.4% and 11.1% vs. 4.4%), but this difference was not statistically significant.One-step and two-step catheterization techniques are both safe methods in medium-sized pleural effusions without serious complications.