ArticleCureus2025
Role of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery in Acute Empyema in Children: A Retrospective Analysis.
Article in Cureus, 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 Acute empyema is a serious complication of paediatric pneumonia that often necessitates surgical intervention in advanced stages. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has emerged as one of the commonly used modalities of surgical management of empyema, due to its minimally invasive nature and favorable outcomes. The study aims to evaluate the efficacy and outcomes of VATS in the management of Stage II and III acute empyema in children at a single tertiary care center. Methods This retrospective study analyzed 22 paediatric patients with radiologically confirmed Stage II or III empyema who underwent VATS between January 2022 and March 2025. Preoperative characteristics, intraoperative findings, postoperative complications, and follow-up outcomes were assessed with appropriate statistical methods. Results Among 22 patients, the majority (n=15, 68.2%) had right-sided empyema. Common symptoms included fever in all the patients (100%) and cough in 19 (86.4%), with a mean symptom duration of 14.5 days. Preoperative intercostal drain (ICD) insertion was performed in 13 (59.1%) cases. VATS was successful in 19 (86.4%) patients, while three (13.6%) required conversion to thoracotomy. The mean operative time was 96.1 minutes, and the average blood loss was 60.2 mL. Postoperatively, 10 (45.5%) experienced fever, and two (9.1%) had air leaks. At the three-month follow-up, all patients showed complete radiological resolution with no residual or recurrent empyema. Conclusion VATS is a safe and effective surgical option for paediatric empyema unresponsive to medical therapy. Early intervention is associated with favorable recovery, minimal complications, and excellent long-term outcomes. VATS should be considered the primary surgical approach for Stage II and III empyema in children.
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.