Abstract
A 9-year-old boy was admitted to the hospital because of persistent fever of 39°C or greater and left sided pleural effusion. On admission he developed left sided empyema which rapidly progressed and could not be controlled with chest tube drainage. We thus performed video-assisted thoracoscopic debridement and decortication via minithoracotomy.
Video-assisted thoracoscopic debridement and decortication via minithoracotomy is a safe and effective technique for acute empyema in pediatric patients. Childhood acute empyema tends to progress rapidly and we have difficulties in placing a thick chest tube due to the patient's physique. When the conservative treatment with chest tube drainage becomes ineffective, we should consider video-assisted thoracoscopic debridement and decortication via minithoracotomy as soon as possible.
