Observational studyBMC pulmonary medicine2023
Association between intrapleural urokinase monotherapy and treatment failure in patients with pleural infection: a retrospective cohort study.
Observational study in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Successful two-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for acute empyema in a high-risk patient with a high RAPID score: a case report.AME case reports · 2026Article
- Ultrasound-Guided Small-Caliber Catheter Drainage for Complex Septated Pleural Effusions: Discrimination of Septal Characteristics for Outcomes.International journal of general medicine · 2026Article
- What is new in pleural infections?Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2026Review
- Efficacy and safety of intrapleural administration of sodium bicarbonate in patients with acute empyema and complicated parapneumonic effusion: protocol for a prospective, single-arm, interventional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Efficacy of medical thoracoscopy combined with fibrinolytic therapy in the treatment of complicated parapneumonic effusions and empyema.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Medical thoracoscopy combined with intrapleural injection of urokinase for treatment of pleural infection-a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled study: study protocol.Respiratory research · 2025Article
- A case of complicated parapneumonic pleural effusion caused by paragonimus infection in a child was successfully treated by intrapleural injection of urokinase: a case report and literature review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Ultrasound and Intrapleural Enzymatic Therapy for Complicated Pleural Effusion: A Case Series with a Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPleural infection, an infection of the pleural space, is frequently treated with antibiotics and thoracic tube drainage. In case of insufficient drainage, an intrapleural fibrinolytic agent is considered before surgical intervention. However, the effectiveness of fibrinolytic monotherapy is still controversial. Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between urokinase monotherapy and treatment failure in patients with pleural infection.
methodsIn this retrospective observational study, patients with pleural infection underwent chest tube insertion were divided into two groups including patients treated with or without intrapleural instillation of urokinase. The propensity score overlap weighting was used to balance the baseline characteristics between the groups. Treatment failure was defined by the composite primary outcome of in-hospital death and referral for surgery.
resultsAmong the 94 patients, 67 and 27 patients were in the urokinase and non-urokinase groups, respectively. Urokinase monotherapy improved the composite outcome between the groups (19.4% vs. 48.1%, p = 0.01). After adjusting using propensity score overlap weighting, urokinase monotherapy improved the composite outcome compared to the non-urokinase group (19.0% vs. 59.5%, p = 0.003).
conclusionsUrokinase monotherapy can be an important nonsurgical treatment option for patients with pleural infection.
trial registrationThe participants were retrospectively registered.
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