Role of rigid thoracoscopy in undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion

Background: Rigid thoracoscopy is one of the recent successful techniques for diagnosing pleural diseases. Till now there are some minimal studies in history regarding the role of thoracoscopy in pleural effusion. The purpose of our prospective study was to evaluate role of rigid thoracoscopy in undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion. Patients and Methods: In our study, subjects were those cases with pleural effusion whose diagnosis was not certain even after standard panel of investigation. And all patients underwent thoracoscopy with conscious sedation under local anesthesia. Results: A total of 50 patients underwent rigid thoracoscopy in one year period for undiagnosed pleural effusion. Thoracoscopy yielded a definitive diagnosis in 36 out of 50 patients (72%), and 14 patients (28%) remained unexplained. The nature of pleural effusion in 29 patients (80.6%) was nonmalignant, and malignant in 7 patients (19.4%). In patients with malignant effusion, metastatic adenocarcinoma lung (n = 4) was the most common followed by squamous cell carcinoma in 2 patients. Other malignant conditions include; metastatic carcinoma from other organs in 1 case; . In patients with nonmalignant effusion, TB (n = 23) was the most common followed by Para pneumonic effusion (n = 6). There was no procedure‑related mortality. Conclusion: Rigid thoracoscopy is a dependable procedure in patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions.