The mainstay of medical therapy for hemothorax is fluid resuscitation and blood transfusion. All patients, regardless of causes, require attention for fluid resuscitation and blood transfusion. Prophylactic use of antibiotics following haemothorax reduces the rate of infectious complications such as pneumonia and empyema during at least 24 hours after the start of chest tube drainage. Antibiotic treatment should be directed to Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus species and the use of first generation cephalosporins during the first 24 hours in patients treated with chest tube drainage is recommended. Intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy (IPFT) has been advocated as an alternative to evacuating residual blood clots and break down adhesions in low-resource settings where the relatively costly and sophisticated technique of VATS may not be available, feasible or applicable. Several studies report on IPFT with streptokinase, urokinase or tissue plasminogen activator (TPA). Duration of treatment with IPFT can vary between 2 and 9 days for streptokinase and 2–15 days for urokinase.
Hemothorax medical therapy
Pneumomediastinum medical therapy
Pleural effusion medical therapy
Hemothorax surgery
Air embolism medical therapy
Pneumothorax surgery
Pleural effusion surgery
Hemoptysis medical therapy