Thoracentesis: A Safe Procedure in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Abstract

Thoracentesis has contributed to the diagnosis and man-agement of patients with pleural effusions for almost 150 years (1). More than 90 % of thoracenteses provide clin-ically useful information (2), with major complication rates of up to 14 % (2-4). Despite the utility of this procedure, in our institution physicians are reluctant to do thoracenteses in mechanically ventilated patients be-cause they perceive the risk for pneumothorax to be increased. Although positive pressure ventilation is not considered to be a contraindication to the procedure, according to the American Thoracic Society guidelines (5), no available data indicate the safety of using the