[Early results of pleural decortication for empyema: an African series of 51 cases].

Objective: To evaluate the short term outcome of patients who underwent pleuro-pulmonary decortication.
Method: This is a retrospective study of 174 patients treated for thoracic empyema in Point G Hospital, Bamako/Mali, between 2004 and 2007. Perioperative data of 51 patients who underwent pleuro-pulmonary decortication had been recorded.
Results: Of the 174 patients treated, 51 (29.3%) underwent pleuro-pulmonary decortication. 84.5% were male and 70.6% were less than 45 years old. A recent history of tuberculosis was found in 59%. Among the four patients selected for a thoracoscopic procedure, only two were treated successfully. A conventional postero-lateral thoracotomy was used in the remaining 49 patients. The lung expansion, estimated intraoperatively, was complete in 43 cases and incomplete in eight cases. Among these eight patients with incomplete lung expansion, four developed a secondary empyema and required a thoracoplasty. The postoperative mortality was 6% (three patients).
Conclusion: In our hospital, one third of patients with thoracic empyema required a pleuro-pulmonary decortication. Incomplete lung expansion is a potential risk factor of postoperative infection necessitating re-operation or more extensive surgical procedures.
(Copyright © 2011 SPLF. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)