Figure 1.

Flow chart of sequential treatment and recurrence for patients over 45 years old with pneumothorax. Patients who received pleurodesis suffered frequent recurrence, but those who received an operation did not. *CTD indicates a patient who underwent chest tube drainage without pleurodesis. If the patient was managed by chest tube drainage and pleurodesis simultaneously, then he/she was defined as PLD. OP was when the patient underwent an operation regardless of previous treatment. Tx., treatment; Recur., recurrence; OBS, observation; CTD, chest tube drainage; PLD, pleurodesis; OP, operation.