2011 Volume 25 Issue 6 Pages 635-638
A 31-year-old woman underwent a left lower lobectomy under a diagnosis of intralobar pulmonary sequestration. On the second postoperative day, the drainage fluid turned cloudy white, and a diagnosis of chylothorax was made by pleural effusions. As conservative treatment, oral intake cessation and peripheral parenteral nutrition were implemented for 10 days; however, chyle in pleural effusions was demonstrated on the 12th postoperative day. As conservative therapy was considered ineffective, she was started on a continuous subcutaneous infusion of octreotide on the 14th postoperative day. After starting the continuous infusion of octreotide, drain discharge was reduced. On day 6 of this treatment, removal of the drain was possible.
The patient was discharged from the hospital on the 23th postoperative day. No recurrence was observed over the 6-month observation period.
Recently, the usefulness of octreotide for refractory chylothorax has been reported. In cases of ineffective conservative therapy for chylothorax, octreotide is relatively safe compared to other therapies, and could be considered as one of the treatment options.
