TABLE 1.
Admission and in-hospital data of study participants
| Short antibiotic course (n=25) | Long antibiotic course (n=25) | |||
| Participants with available data | Result | Participants with available data | Result | |
| Age, years | 25 | 43 (34–49) | 25 | 52 (39–59) |
| Male | 25 | 18 (72) | 25 | 17 (68) |
| Symptom duration before admission, days | 24 | 17 (9.25–39) | 24 | 16.5 (10–27.5) |
| Any comorbidity or risk factor# | 25 | 23 | 25 | 24 |
| Poor dentition | 13 | 11 | ||
| Intravenous drug user | 6 | 5 | ||
| Cardiovascular disease | 4 | 4 | ||
| Diabetes | 5 | 7 | ||
| Respiratory disease | 4 | 3 | ||
| Septations on ultrasound | 14 | 4 (28.6) | 18 | 14 (77.7) |
| CT signs | ||||
| Split pleura sign | 22 | 18 (81.1) | 24 | 17 (70.8) |
| Volume loss | 22 | 3 (13.6) | 24 | 2 (8.3) |
| Multiloculated | 25 | 10 (40) | 24 | 10 (41.7) |
| Infection source | 25 | 25 | ||
| Community-acquired | 20 (80) | 22 (88) | ||
| Hospital-acquired | 5 (20) | 3 (12) | ||
| Infection type | 23 | 25 | ||
| Primary pleural | 19 (82.6) | 18 (72) | ||
| Parapneumonic | 4 (17.4) | 7 (28) | ||
| Purulent pleural fluid | 25 | 20 (80) | 25 | 16 (64) |
| RAPID category | 25 | 25 | ||
| Low | 17 (68) | 10 (40) | ||
| Intermediate | 8 (32) | 15 (60) | ||
| Admission blood tests | ||||
| Albumin, mg·dL−1 | 25 | 3.01±0.58 | 25 | 2.71±0.61 |
| WCC, ×109 L−1 | 24 | 12.3 (8.77–17.23) | 25 | 12.8 (10.2–18.85) |
| Haemoglobin, g·dL−1 | 24 | 11.19±1.99 | 25 | 10.66±2.15 |
| Platelets, mm−3 | 24 | 328.5 (213.25–444) | 25 | 376 (312–484) |
| CRP, mg·L−1 | 20 | 158.68±94.95 | 15 | 163.60±92.64 |
| Drain size | 20 | 21 | ||
| <18 Fr | 9 (45) | 12 (57) | ||
| ≥18 Fr | 11 (55) | 9 (43) | ||
| Duration of drainage, days | 18 | 9 (6–12) | 18 | 7 (4–11) |
| Discharge blood tests | ||||
| WCC, ×109 L−1 | 24 | 9.09±3.44 | 25 | 9.68±3.93 |
| Platelets, mm−3 | 24 | 362 (276–486.25) | 25 | 508 (287–596) |
| CRP, mg·L−1 | 23 | 32 (15.9–44.7) | 24 | 21.9 (16.5–32.7) |
| Length of intravenous antibiotic course, days | 25 | 9.12±3.56 | 25 | 11.20±2.51 |
| Length of stay, days | 25 | 10.52±3.28 | 25 | 11.63±2.58 |
| Status at discharge | 25 | 25 | ||
| No residual collection | 11 (44) | 11 (44) | ||
| Residual collection | 14 (56) | 13 (52) | ||
| Outpatient drainage | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | ||
| Inpatient antibiotics | 25 | 25 | ||
| Ampicillin-sulbactam/metronidazole | 15 (60) | 14 (56) | ||
| Cephalosporin/metronidazole | 3 (12) | 3 (12) | ||
| Other | 7 (28) | 8 (32) | ||
| Outpatient antibiotics | 25 | 25 | ||
| Co-amoxiclav/metronidazole | 6 (24) | 10 (40) | ||
| Moxifloxacin | 6 (24) | 6 (24) | ||
| Moxifloxacin/metronidazole | 7 (28) | 0 (0) | ||
| Co-amoxiclav | 0 (0) | 4 (24) | ||
Data are presented as n, median (interquartile range), n (%) or mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. CT: computed tomography; WCC: white cell count; CRP: C-reactive protein. #: some participants had more than one comorbidity or risk factor.