ArticleBMC pulmonary medicine2026
Indwelling pleural catheter efficacy and safety in malignant vs. non-malignant pleural effusions: a prospective study.
Article in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2026. 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
backgroundIndwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) are used to manage refractory pleural effusions (PEs), including malignant (MPE) and non-malignant pleural effusions (NMPE). This study evaluates IPC efficacy and safety, focusing on pleurodesis success, symptom relief, recurrence, survival, and complications.
methodsA prospective cohort study of 74 patients (62 MPE, 12 NMPE) who underwent IPC insertion between 2019 and 2024 at a tertiary teaching hospital. Patients were followed for at least 12 months. The primary outcomes were symptom relief and successful pleurodesis. Secondary outcomes included the duration of IPC placement, time to pleurodesis, recurrence rates, complication rates, and overall survival.
resultsPleurodesis was achieved in 32% of patients, lower in MPEs (28%) than NMPEs (50%) (p = 0.02). Mean IPC duration was 10.2 weeks (MPE: 10.7, NMPE: 7.5 weeks). Symptom relief was reported in 85%, with no significant difference between groups. Recurrence occurred in 3% of patients, all within the NMPE cases. Complications included catheter blockage (16%), chest pain (13%), loculation (9%), and pleural infection (9%), with no significant differences between groups. MPE patients had significantly lower survival at 3, 6, and 12 months (p < 0.05). IPC duration was not linked to survival (p = 0.93).
conclusionIPCs provide symptom relief and facilitate pleurodesis, though success is lower in MPEs. Complications are comparable between groups, supporting IPCs as a management option for both MPE and NMPE. Further research is needed to optimize IPC use and identify predictors of pleurodesis success.
trial registrationRetrospectively registered.
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.