Currently, there is no high-quality evidence comparing the clinical outcomes and cost
effectiveness of surgical drainage combined with antibiotics versus dual-agent intrapleural
fibrinolytic therapy (IPFT) catheter drainage of pleural space infections with concomitant
antibiotic therapy. The absence of comparative data is a challenge for surgical and medical
services in clinical decision-making for this common and morbid condition.
This is a pilot study comparing surgical drainage of the pleural space in complex pleural
effusions to bedside chest tube drainage using dual agent IPFT with the intent to inform on
study algorithm and endpoint performance in anticipation of a multi-institutional randomized
clinical trial.