METHOD FOR DETERMINING INDICATIONS TO APPLYING THORACOSCOPIC TREATMENT OF CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM PLEURAL EMPYEMA Russian patent published in 2001 - IPC

FIELD: medicine. SUBSTANCE: method involves performing computer tomography examination first in horizontal position and the in lateral position. Exudate redistribution relative to the pleural cavity is described. Fixed fibrin fragments, pleuropulmonary commissures and exudate density is measured before and after changing patient body position. Accumulated fibrin with density of 30-40 units fixed on the lung and pleura being detected, surgical intervention is considered to be indicated. Unconstrained movement of the fluid in the pleural cavity, lack of fixed fragments of high density in the pleural cavity, the contents density being within the limits of 10-15 units, pleural puncture and conservative therapy are considered to be indicated. EFFECT: enhanced accuracy of the method.