: Unexpandable lung is a complication by which the lung does
not expand to the chest wall with pleural space drainage. Which will
result in adverse events or intervention failure if not well recognized prior
to the intervention.
Aim of the work: This study aimed to assess the role of pleural
manometry and transthoracic ultrasonography in predicting abnormal
lung expansion during pleural drainage.
Patients and Methods: this was a prospective observational analytical
study involving 50 patients that aims to predict abnormal lung expansion
during pleural drainage using pleural manometry and transthoracic
ultrasound.
Results: Regarding pleural manometry (pleural elastance), all patients in
the entrapped lung group (100%) had pleural elastance >14.5cm H2o/L,
while, in the non-entrapped lung group, all patients (100%) had pleural
elastance ≤14.5cm H2o/L. Regarding ultrasonography, pleural thickening
> 0.5 cm was found in all patients with entrapped lung (100%) and 50%
of patients with non-entrapped lung with statistically significant
difference. In the entrapped lung group, 20%, 35% and 45% of patients
had simple, complex non-septated and complex septated pleural effusion,
respectively, while in the non-entrapped lung group 63.35%,33.33% and
3.32% of patients had simple, complex non-septated and complex
septated effusion, respectively, with statistically significant difference (p
value 0.0005).
Conclusion: Pleural manometry and transthoracic ultrasound can guide
decision-making regarding the timing of pleural interventions and
management of cases with entrapped lung.