Pleural effusion requires a combination of both causative and symptomatic treatments in order to be completely cured.
Pleural effusion is a disease in which the fluid in the chest cavity is formed too quickly or absorbed too slowly due to various reasons, resulting in a pathologic increase of fluid in the chest cavity. Common causes include constrictive pericarditis, congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis, tuberculous pleurisy, pneumonia, lung cancer and so on.
Pleural effusion caused by constrictive pericarditis, congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis and other diseases is leaky pleural effusion, and the treatment should be active in treating the original disease, applying furosemide, human albumin and other symptomatic supportive treatment. When the pleural effusion is large, pleural puncture and fluid extraction or closed chest drainage can be performed.
Tuberculous pleurisy is an infection of the pleura by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which triggers an increase in the permeability of the pleura and the production of exudate. Treatment requires aggressive anti-tuberculosis therapy (isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, etc.). If the pleural effusion is large, thoracentesis to extract fluid or closed chest drainage may be performed.
For pleural effusion caused by pneumonia, the patient should actively control the infection and drain the pleural effusion. The patient should follow the doctor’s instruction to apply levofloxacin, ceftazidime and so on to carry out anti-infection treatment, and in more serious cases, thoracentesis or closed chest drainage can be carried out to drain the excessive effusion and alleviate the symptoms of compression.
Pleural effusion caused by lung cancer and other malignant tumors is easy to recur. On the basis of active anti-cancer treatment (surgery, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, etc.), closed drainage of the chest cavity can help cure pleural effusion.
If pleural effusion occurs, it is recommended to seek medical treatment in time, clarify the cause of the disease and standardize the treatment.