Diagnosing Pediatric Empyema with MSCT and its Implicatio for Clinical Treatment Options

Objective: To explore the value of diagnosing pediatric empyema with Multi-slice Spiral CT(MSCT),and discuss its implications for providing clinical treatment options,eliminating infection,and recovering pulmonary function.Methods:From March 2008 untill December 2011,a total of 36 pediatric patients with empyema diagnosed through MSCT,and with full clinical data were chosen for a retrospective analysis.Results:19 patients had empyema on the left side,15 patients had emyema on the right side.Empyema complicated with pneumothorax was observed in 2 patients,while 14 patients had a concominant lung abscess.9,17,and 10 patients had small,intermediate and large amounts of empyema respectively.9 children with early stage and small amount of empyema was treated with antibiotics,with 3 of them resort to pulmonary puncture after treatment failure.18 patients with fibrosis received pleural drainage and closes thoracic drainage.9 patients with chronic organized stage were given surgical treatment.Conclusion:Treatment were given according to different stages in MSCT can effectively shorten the time with infection and abscess.