Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Distribution of talc suspension during treatment of malignant pleural effusion with talc pleurodesis.
Talc pleurodesis is an effective technique for the management of symptomatic malignant pleural effusions. It is assumed that a good dispersion of talc suspension contributes to the final success of this treatment. For this purpose, guidelines often advise to rotate the patient after intra-pleural instillation of the sclerosant. ⋯ Rotation of the patients did not influence the dispersion of sludge after 1 min or 1 h. Pleurodesis was successful in 85% of the patients after 1-month follow-up. Standard rotation protocols for patients with malignant pleural effusion do not affect the overall dispersion of talc suspension and should be abolished because of the discomfort caused to the patients.