Ultrasound monitoring of pneumothorax after CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy

Background: Pneumothorax is the most common complication to CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy of lung lesions (CT-TTNB). Larger pneumothoraces are treated with acute pleural drainage, but little is known about the development of the minor pneumothoraces over time.Objective: This study aims to examine the development of pneumothoraces with ultrasound after CT-TTNB in a 2-hour period.Methods: The study is a prospective observational study. Patients undergoing CT-TTNB were monitored continuously with ultrasound every half hour in two hours and were scanned in supine and sitting position. Patients were excluded if they did not present with a pneumothorax or if the pneumothorax required acute pleural drainage during the biopsy procedure.Results: Of 36 patients scanned, seven patients had a pneumothorax which did not require acute pleural drainage. Figure 1 presents the sizes of the pneumothoraces and mean size in supine and sitting position over time. The mean size did not increase significantly, see Figure. In supine position, lung point from sternum at time 0 minutes was 7.3 cm, time 30 was minutes 8.3 cm, and to time 120 minutes was 9.8 cm. All pneumothoraces were confirmed by conventional chest x-ray after two hours.Conclusion: Subject to a small study population, all pneumothoraces were detected within 30 minutes after the biopsy and the mean size was largely unchanged in the two-hour observational period. FootnotesCite this article as Eur Respir J 2022; 60: Suppl. 66, 1911.This article was presented at the 2022 ERS International Congress, in session “-”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).