Medical thoracoscopy removal of a self-expandable metallic stent migration into pleural cavity

Wen-Chien Cheng; Biing-Ru Wu; Chia-Hung Chen; Wei-Chih Liao; Chih-Yen Tu

doi:10.21037/jtd.2018.05.33

Medical thoracoscopy removal of a self-expandable metallic stent migration into pleural cavity

J Thorac Dis. 2018 May;10(5):3054-3058. doi: 10.21037/jtd.2018.05.33.

Authors

Wen-Chien Cheng^{1

2

3}, Biing-Ru Wu^{1

2}, Chia-Hung Chen^{2

4

5

6}, Wei-Chih Liao^{1

2

3}, Chih-Yen Tu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung.
² School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center, China Medical University, Taichung.
⁴ Department of Respiratory Therapy, China Medical University, Taichung.
⁵ Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung.
⁶ Taiwan Clinical Trial Consortium for Lung Diseases (TCoC), Taichung.
⁷ Department of Life Science, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung.

Abstract

Pleuroscopy, also known as medical thoracoscopy (MT), is an important tool for pleural disease management. Removal of foreign body (FB) by MT was reported in a few reports because it can identify the position of a FB in the pleural cavity and can be used for its urgent removal. In this study, we describe the case of a male patient with a ruptured lung abscess and a rare complication of self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) migration into the pleural cavity via a bronchopleural fistula after the management of obstructive airway disease. An experienced pulmonologist successfully removed the SEMS from the pleural cavity using semi-rigid pleuroscopy under local anesthesia and conscious sedation in a bronchoscopy suite.

Keywords: Self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS); bronchopleural fistula; lung abscess; medical thoracoscopy (MT); migration; pleuroscopy.