ArticleJournal of thoracic disease2025
Clinical outcomes of caregiver-led indwelling pleural catheter care and drainage at a Singapore tertiary referral hospital.
Article in Journal of thoracic disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) are an established first-line treatment option for symptomatic malignant pleural effusions (MPEs). However, community nursing support for IPC care and drainage is not available in many healthcare systems. In this study, we sought to evaluate IPC outcomes and complication rates in patients for whom IPC care and home drainage are performed by family members and caregivers. Methods: Patients who underwent IPC insertions between January 2017 to December 2022 were included in this observational cohort study. Caregiver training were provided to all patients and appointed caregivers by pleural specialist nurse. All patients were assessed at regular intervals every 1 to 2 months, until death or IPC removal. Clinical outcomes and adverse events were recorded prospectively. Results: We evaluated 140 patients with a median age of 68 years [interquartile range (IQR): 61-73 years]. MPE was the underlying etiology in 137 patients (97.9%). The most common causes of MPE were lung cancer (42.9%) and breast cancer (22.1%). The median duration of IPC placement was 64 (IQR: 36-120) days. About a third of patients (35.0%) had spontaneous pleurodesis allowing for removal of the IPC, with this occurring at a median of 78 (IQR: 52-144) days. The median length of survival from the time of IPC insertion was 102 (IQR: 41-308) days. IPC related complications occurred in 38 (27.1%) patients. Catheter malfunction, most commonly a non-draining IPC due to catheter blockage, occurred in 27 (19.3%) of patients, and 14 (10.0%) patients developed infective complications. Nine (6.4%) patients required hospitalisation for IPC-related complications. There were no bleeding complications or procedure-related deaths. Conclusions: In healthcare systems without available community nursing services, IPCs remain a valuable treatment option for patients with symptomatic MPEs. Comparable clinical outcomes and safety profiles can be achieved even for patients where IPC care and drainage are primarily led by caregivers or family members, in the presence of appropriate support and caregiver training provided by a pleural service.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.