Table 4. Relationship between Chylothorax-specific Postoperative Variables and Failure of Medical Management.
Variable | Failed Medical Management (n=21) | Successful Medical Management (n=13) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Time from esophagectomy to diagnosis (days; median, IQR) | 4(3-7) | 7 (4-13) | 0.152 |
| |||
Late diagnosis (More than 6 days after esophagectomy; n) | 8 | 8 | 0.224 |
| |||
Duration of initial chest tube (days; median, IQR) | 13 (4-19) | 7 (5-11) | 0.238 |
| |||
Mode of presentation (n) | |||
Chylous chest tube output | 14 | 7 | 0.055 |
Pleural effusion on chest x-ray | 9 | 10 | 0.293 |
| |||
Original chest tube in place at diagnosis | 12 | 8 | 0.581 |
| |||
Additional procedure required for diagnosis | 0.859 | ||
None | 9 | 6 | |
Thoracentesis | 3 | 2 | |
Chest tube or Pigtail placement | 6 | 6 | |
| |||
Chest tube output on day of diagnosis (ml; median, IQR) | 1298 (800-2125) | 520 (384-1438) | 0.050 |
| |||
Involved hemithorax at diagnosis | |||
Right | 8 | 6 | 0.083 |
Left | 8 | 3 | |
Bilateral | 1 | 5 | |
| |||
Late diagnosis (More than 6 days after esophagectomy; n, %) | 8 | 8 | 0.224 |
| |||
Laboratory analysis of pleural drainage | |||
Triglycerides (median, IQR) | 436 (240-806) | 311 (182-833) | 0.518 |
Chylomicrons (median, IQR) | 189 (123-361) | 168 (66-258) | 0.741 |
| |||
Initial Management | |||
Nothing by mouth | 17 | 12 | 0.245 |
Additional drain placement | 8 | 4 | 0.484 |
Total parenteral nutrition | 14 | 5 | 0.013 |
Change enteral feeds to elemental formula | 7 | 7 | 0.842 |
Octreotide | 5 | 3 | 0.555 |
Bedside pleurodesis | 5 | 0 | 0.032 |
Not all criteria were in the record and able to be abstracted for every patient; reported % are based on total patients for whom the criteria was recorded