Pleural aspiration or thoracocentesis is a procedure of aspira | Medcrine
Pleural aspiration or thoracocentesis is a procedure of aspirating fluid from the pleural space known as pleural effusion.
Indications for Pleural Aspiration
Diagnostic purposes such as a rapid diagnosis of malignancy
Therapeutic purposes for moderate to massive effusion to relieve breathlessness and, pyothorax (presence of thin pus).
Instillation of drugs such as cytotoxic drugs or steroids.
pleural aspiration should be reserved for the investigation of unilateral exudative pleural effusions. It should not be carried out if a unilateral or bilateral transudative effusion is suspected unless there are atypical features or there is a failure of response to therapy
Pleural Aspiration is also performed for:
Judge cellularity: If the specimens are very cellular, they should be stained separately to prevent cross-contamination while poorly cellular specimens are processed by cytocentrifugation or filtration techniques.
Ancillary tests: Additional smears may be prepared for special stains, flow cytometry and electron microscopy.
Preparation of cell block for histochemical and immunohistochemical evaluation.
If a pleural biopsy is planned, it should be performed with the first aspiration.
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