Study on How Removing Pleural Fluid Affects Breathing Effort and Breathlessness in Adults with Pleural Effusion

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating the relationship between pleural effusions and breathlessness in adults with unilateral pleural effusions who need fluid removal to manage their symptoms. This observational study will enroll 124 adults over an 18-month period to better understand how removing pleural fluid affects the electrical activity of breathing muscles and patient breathlessness. Participants will undergo measurements including surface parasternal and diaphragm electromyograms EMG and parasternal muscle ultrasounds. These assessments will be done before, immediately after, and at 1 and 7 days following pleural fluid removal, which may be done via thoracocentesis, chest drain insertion, or indwelling pleural catheter IPC. Breathlessness will be measured using the VAS dyspnoea score and Dyspnoea-12 questionnaire. During the study, patients will be evaluated at baseline, immediately post-procedure, and at 1 and 7 days after fluid removal. Researchers will collect data on neural respiratory drive, breathlessness, exercise capacity, and pleural effusion characteristics using thoracic ultrasound. The study will also assess how acceptable it is to include surface parasternal EMG as part of routine clinical practice. Participants will be monitored for up to 7 days post-procedure.

Continuation Of a Study to Investigate the Effect of Thoracocentesis on Neural Respiratory Drive in Pleural Effusion