Table 1.
Preoperative patients’ characteristics.
| Characteristics | OPEN (n = 75) | VATS (n = 644) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male/female | 43/32 | 471/173 | |
| Age (range) | 58 (23–83) | 56 (17–82) | |
| Symptoms duration (days) | 7 ± 2 | 5 ± 2 | |
| Preoperative treatment: | |||
| chest drainage | 63 (84%) | 543 (84.3%) | 0.473 |
| thoracentesis | 12 (16%) | 101 (15.7%) | 0.475 |
| Smoking history | 25 (33.3%) | 141 (21.9%) | 0.013 |
| Intravenous drug abuse | 11 (14.6%) | 23 (3.5%) | 0.000 |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Diabetes | 51 (68%) | 432 (67%) | 0.430 |
| Alcoholism | 24 (32%) | 81 (12.6%) | 0.000 |
| Cardiovascular | 45 (60%) | 376 (58.4) | 0.395 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 18 (24%) | 26 (4%) | 0.036 |
| Empyema stage II | 8 (10.6%) | 545 (84.6%) | |
| Empyema stage III | 67 (89.3%) | 99 (15.4%) |