First Local Anaesthesia Thoracoscopy for Pleural Effusion Diagnosis.
NCT ID: NCT06946498
Last Updated: 2025-04-27
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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RECRUITING
NA
100 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2023-05-23
2026-12-31
Brief Summary
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The Control Group includes patients who come to the same hospital and are treated with the Standard of Care (SOC) strategies were used. Efficacy of LAT, Sensitivity, Hospitalization, time to diagnosis and general safety and comfort of the groups' subjects will be assessed.
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Detailed Description
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The aim of this study is to evaluate the conventional diagnostic approach used in daily clinical practice (3 consecutive punctures of pleural effusion with cytological examination and in case of insufficient diagnosis pleural biopsy, either LAT or VATS depending on the clinical assessment of the patient) with the simplest immediate performance of LAT as soon as a pleural effusion suspected of malignancy is detected. Thus two subject groups will be compared. The first (LAT Group) will undergo Local Anesthesia Thoracoscopy as the first line option for the diagnosis of the suspected MPE. The control group will undergo the standard of care recommended guidelines for the diagnosis of MPE.
Conditions
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Study Design
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NON_RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
DIAGNOSTIC
NONE
Study Groups
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LAT Group
The study group includes patients in whom the investigation of pleural effusion begins directly with pleural biopsy by Local Anesthesia Thoracoscopy (LAT) under conscious sedation. In these patients, imaging with chest CT and/or thoracic ultrasound has been performed and lymphocytic exudate is confirmed in fluid aspiration.
Local Anesthesia Thoracoscopy
The patient is placed in a lateral decubitus, with the affected hemithorax upwards. Ensuring a venous line and full monitoring of vital functions. Mild sedation is given and a dose of Ceftriaxone is given 30 minutes before. Local anesthesia is injected in layers, starting from the skin and working up to the intercostal muscles, intercostal nerve, and periosteum of the rib.
Development of pneumothorax is done using a 16-gauge Boutin needle. 15 spontaneous breaths are sufficient to create a pneumothorax, and entry of rigid thoracoscope into the hemithorax through a 11-13 mm Trocar. Multiple biopsies from the parietal pleura are taken and pleurodesis is made according to operator judgment. A chest drain 20-22 G is placed and sutured.
A chest X-ray is performed 2-8 hours later after the patient is transferred to the ward. Chest drain is removed after 24h if fluid production is \<250ml and lung re-expansion.
Pleuroscopy with Rigid Thoracoscope and Forceps biopsies
A video thoracoscope with an external light source, outer diameter 10 mm (Karl Storz), is inserted into the pleural cavity through a uniportal incision (1 - 1.5 cm) and complete inspection of the pleural cavity is performed. Parietal pleural biopsies are taken with a rigid 40 mm forceps (Karl Storz).
Control Group
The Control Group includes patients admitted with undiagnosed pleural lymphocytic exudate, who undergo Standard of Care (SOC) diagnostic strategies according to BTS guideline including among others, 3 samples for cytological examination (40-60 ml each), chest tube drainage, microbiological and immunological studies. If the diagnosis is not established and there is still indication for pleural biopsy patients are referred either for surgical biopsy or LAT.
No interventions assigned to this group
Interventions
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Local Anesthesia Thoracoscopy
The patient is placed in a lateral decubitus, with the affected hemithorax upwards. Ensuring a venous line and full monitoring of vital functions. Mild sedation is given and a dose of Ceftriaxone is given 30 minutes before. Local anesthesia is injected in layers, starting from the skin and working up to the intercostal muscles, intercostal nerve, and periosteum of the rib.
Development of pneumothorax is done using a 16-gauge Boutin needle. 15 spontaneous breaths are sufficient to create a pneumothorax, and entry of rigid thoracoscope into the hemithorax through a 11-13 mm Trocar. Multiple biopsies from the parietal pleura are taken and pleurodesis is made according to operator judgment. A chest drain 20-22 G is placed and sutured.
A chest X-ray is performed 2-8 hours later after the patient is transferred to the ward. Chest drain is removed after 24h if fluid production is \<250ml and lung re-expansion.
Pleuroscopy with Rigid Thoracoscope and Forceps biopsies
A video thoracoscope with an external light source, outer diameter 10 mm (Karl Storz), is inserted into the pleural cavity through a uniportal incision (1 - 1.5 cm) and complete inspection of the pleural cavity is performed. Parietal pleural biopsies are taken with a rigid 40 mm forceps (Karl Storz).
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
Exclusion Criteria
* Transudate pleural effusion.
* Central airway obstruction by tumor.
* Existence of extensive adhesions that do not allow the development of iatrogenic pneumothorax and the safe entry of the thoracoscope.
* Uncontrollable cough.
* Acute respiratory failure and/or Hypercapnia.
* Performance Status: 5
18 Years
90 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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Sotiria Thoracic Diseases Hospital of Athens
OTHER
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Stratakos Grigorios
Professor of Interventional Pulmonology
Principal Investigators
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Grigorios Stratakos, Professor
Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Locations
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Sotiria General Hospital of Thoracic Diseases
Athens, Attica, Greece
Countries
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Central Contacts
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Facility Contacts
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References
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Ferguson J, Tsim S, Kelly C, Alexander L, Shad S, Neilly M, Tate M, Zahra B, Saleh M, Cowell G, Banks E, Grundy S, Corcoran J, Downer N, Stanton A, Evison M, Rahman NM, Maskell N, Blyth KG. Staging by Thoracoscopy in potentially radically treatable Lung Cancer associated with Minimal Pleural Effusion (STRATIFY): protocol of a prospective, multicentre, observational study. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2023 Nov 23;10(1):e001771. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2023-001771.
Wan YY, Zhai CC, Lin XS, Yao ZH, Liu QH, Zhu L, Li DZ, Li XL, Wang N, Lin DJ. Safety and complications of medical thoracoscopy in the management of pleural diseases. BMC Pulm Med. 2019 Jul 10;19(1):125. doi: 10.1186/s12890-019-0888-5.
Shaikh F, Lentz RJ, Feller-Kopman D, Maldonado F. Medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural disease: a guide for the clinician. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2020 Oct;14(10):987-1000. doi: 10.1080/17476348.2020.1788940. Epub 2020 Jul 12.
Gong L, Huang G, Huang Y, Liu D, Tang X. Medical Thoracoscopy for the Management of Exudative Pleural Effusion: A Retrospective Study. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2020 Dec 4;13:2845-2855. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S287758. eCollection 2020.
Murthy V, Bessich JL. Medical thoracoscopy and its evolving role in the diagnosis and treatment of pleural disease. J Thorac Dis. 2017 Sep;9(Suppl 10):S1011-S1021. doi: 10.21037/jtd.2017.06.37.
Xu LL, Yang Y, Wang Z, Wang XJ, Tong ZH, Shi HZ. Malignant pleural mesothelioma: diagnostic value of medical thoracoscopy and long-term prognostic analysis. BMC Pulm Med. 2018 Apr 3;18(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s12890-018-0619-3.
Li D, Jackson K, Panchal R, Aujayeb A. Local Anaesthetic Thoracoscopy for Pleural Effusion-A Narrative Review. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Oct 9;10(10):1978. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10101978.
Arnold DT, De Fonseka D, Perry S, Morley A, Harvey JE, Medford A, Brett M, Maskell NA. Investigating unilateral pleural effusions: the role of cytology. Eur Respir J. 2018 Nov 8;52(5):1801254. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01254-2018. Print 2018 Nov.
Kiani A, Abedini A, Karimi M, Samadi K, Sheikhy K, Farzanegan B, Pour Abdollah M, Jamaati H, Jabardarjani HR, Masjedi MR. Diagnostic Yield of Medical Thoracoscopy in Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion. Tanaffos. 2015;14(4):227-31.
Wu YB, Xu LL, Wang XJ, Wang Z, Zhang J, Tong ZH, Shi HZ. Diagnostic value of medical thoracoscopy in malignant pleural effusion. BMC Pulm Med. 2017 Aug 4;17(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s12890-017-0451-1.
Kassirian S, Hinton SN, Cuninghame S, Chaudhary R, Iansavitchene A, Amjadi K, Dhaliwal I, Zeman-Pocrnich C, Mitchell MA. Diagnostic sensitivity of pleural fluid cytology in malignant pleural effusions: systematic review and meta-analysis. Thorax. 2023 Jan;78(1):32-40. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2021-217959. Epub 2022 Feb 2.
Tsim S, Paterson S, Cartwright D, Fong CJ, Alexander L, Kelly C, Holme J, Evison M, Blyth KG. Baseline predictors of negative and incomplete pleural cytology in patients with suspected pleural malignancy - Data supporting 'Direct to LAT' in selected groups. Lung Cancer. 2019 Jul;133:123-129. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2019.05.017. Epub 2019 May 16.
Other Identifiers
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FLAT1STIPNKUA
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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