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Table 3 Summary of studies of pulmonary mechanics after thoracentesis in mechanically ventilated patients

From: Utility and safety of draining pleural effusions in mechanically ventilated patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Study Proportion Mechanically Ventilated N Time of Outcome Measurement Variable Outcome a
      Before After P-value
Ahmed 2004 100% 22 <1 hour before and after thoracentesis Peak inspiratory pressure (cm H2O) 34.9 ± 8.4 35.9 ± 12.5 0.64b
     Respiratory rate 19.4 ± 6.5 15.5 ± 6.3 0.03
Doelken 2006 100% 9 Immediately before and after procedure Peak inspiratory pressure (cm H2O) 43.8 ± 13.7 40.8 ± 10.6 0.08
     Plateau pressure (cm H2O) 20.0 ± 9.0 17.8 ± 5.6 0.19
     Dynamic compliance (L/cm H2O) 14.5 ± 5.3 15.2 ± 5.0 0.12
     Ventilator work per cycle (Joules) 3.42 ± 1.05 2.99 ± 0.81 0.01
Talmor 1998 100% 19 Immediately before and after procedure Peak inspiratory pressure (cm H2O) 44.3 ± 13.9 42.9 ± 18.7 0.74b
     Dynamic compliance (L/cm H2O) 27.1 ± 15.3 35.7 ± 30.5 < 0.05
  1. aValues are reported as mean ± standard deviation.
  2. bP-value not provided in the original paper; we calculated the P-value based on the data provided, assuming a correlation between the before and after measurements of 0.4.
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