Postoperative empyema after pleurectomy decortication for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2021 October 4 [Link]

Moshe Lapidot, Emanuele Mazzola, Samuel Freyaldenhoven, Luis E De León, Michael T Jaklitsch, Raphael Bueno

Abstract

Background: Postoperative empyema following pleurectomy decortication (PDC) for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a serious complication that necessitates prolonged hospitalization. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence, risk factors and prognosis in patients who develop postoperative empyema following PDC.

Methods: The background, type of PDC, neo-adjuvant treatment, date of empyema, pleural fluid cultures, post empyema treatment and prognosis from a series of consecutive 355 patients treated over 9 years at a single high-volume center were investigated. Fisher’s exact test, Kaplan Meier estimators and log rank test were used to identify significant risk factors for postoperative empyema and compare the overall survival.

Results: 355 patients underwent PDC for MPM in a 9-year period. There were 263 males and median age at surgery was 69. Neoadjuvant therapy was given to 87 and 282 received intraoperative heated chemotherapy (IOHC). During the study 24 patients (6.8%) developed empyema. The length of stay (LOS) of patients who developed postoperative empyema was significantly longer. Median survival for patients who developed postoperative empyema was 11.7 months and 21.3 months for patients without empyema (HR-1.78, p=0.009). Postoperative empyema was associated with male sex, prolonged air leak and use of prosthetic mesh.

Conclusions: Postoperative empyema following PDC is associated with prolonged length of stay and higher mortality. The rates of this serious postoperative complication might decrease by developing better strategies to avoid prolonged air leak after PDC.