Sonographic Indicators for Treatment Choice and Follow-Up in Patients with Pleural Effusion

Table 3

US characteristics of surgically and nonsurgically treated patients.

Treatment option		Diaphragm function
		Fixed	Impaired movement	Normal movement	Total
Nonsurgically		49 (15 %)	188 (57 %)	93	330 (100%)
Surgically		15 (33 %)	28 (62%)	2	45 (100%)
Total		64	216	95	375
	Echo structure
Treatment option	Complex septate	Complex nonseptate	Echogenic	Anechoic	Total
Medicamentous	34	22	25	52	133
Drainage/thoracentesis	91	38	23	48	200
Surgically	18	14	6	7	45
	143	74	54	107	378
	Wall thickness
Treatment option	N		Mean		Standard error mean
Nonsurgically	333		5.39 ± 1.45		0.080
Surgically	45		7.04 ± 1.44		0.215