This week, we speak to Dr. Laura Gleeson again—this time about pleural effusions. Our conversation covers all the pleural effusion basics, plus the nuances of radiology, when to insert a chest drain, and how to monitor it once it’s in place.

Chapters:

• 01:05 – Rapid fire round

• 04:23 – Pleural effusion intro

• 05:30 – Symptoms at presentation with pleural effusion

• 06:40 – Interpreting a white-out on CXR

• 07:20 – When to do further radiology/imaging

• 08:35 – CT pre or post chest drain insertion?

• 10:25 – Light’s criteria – can it always be trusted?

• 12:00 – What tests to send on your pleural fluid sample

• 14:15 – Chest drain indications

• 16:35 – Monitoring your chest drain

• 21:00 – Flushing the chest drain

• 22:20 – How much fluid to drain

• 25:00 – Removing the chest drain

• 27:10 – Empyema management

• 30:10 – Fibrinolysis

• 31:55 – Following up your pleural patients

• 34:10 – Take-home points

Show notes & resources:

• Light’s criteria – MDCalc calculator | CHEST Clinics article

• MIST trials – MIST2 – NEJM | MIST3 – ATS Journals