Management of empyema thoracis in Tikur Anbessa Hospital: A three-years experience

Background: Empyema thoracis may be localized or it may involve the entire pleural cavity and may be classified as acute or chronic. The aim of this study as to analyze the causes and outcome of management of 127 patients treated at Tikur Anbessa Hospital (TAH) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between January 1998 and January 2001.Methods: Data was collected retrospectively from medical reco: is to analyze the causes, clinical presentation and outcome of management of treatment of thoracic empyema in terms of postoperative morbidity and mortality.Results: The majority (67%) of the patients were males. The age ranged from 14 to 78 years with a mean of 32 years and a peak in the 21-30 years age group. Cough and chest pain were the commonest symptoms while decreased air entry and dullness to percussion were the most common signs. Tuberculosis was the major cause accounting for 75 cases (59.1%). Closed chest drainage alone was done in 108 (85%) of cases. The duration of Hospital stay ranged from 1 to 132 days with a mean of 43.2 days. There were 29 hospital deaths (23.8% mortality rate). Thirteen of the deaths occurred in patients who had HIV/AIDS.Conclusion: Early and complete drainage is the fundamental step in the management of all empyema, considering the increased morbidity and compLications associatedwith delayed drainage of empyema.Key words: Management, empyema and thoracis