Abstract
Dyspnea is a common symptom of patients with cancer and decreases the quality of life. There are several palliative medical therapies for dyspnea including morphine. However, these treatment effects are sometimes limited. Palliative management by interventional radiology (IR) can contribute to improvement of this symptom.
Pleural effusion is one of the most common causes of dyspnea in cancer patients. Percutaneous thoracic drainage is the first-choice IR for pleural effusion and subsequent pleurodesis is widely applied to prevent a reaccumulation of fluid. Also, pleuroperitoneal shunt for pleural effusion may be alternative IR. Here, we describe the indications, treatment effects, and complications of these palliative IR (including pleurodesis). Furthermore, recent topics of medical therapies are mentioned in this manuscript.
