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1
Pediatric pleural empyema commonly arises from parapneumonic effusions, with an incidence of approximately 0.6% in pneumonia cases.
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2
The study analyzed 33 children, revealing that chest-tube drainage was the most frequent initial treatment, with VATS used for complicated cases.
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3
Dyspnea was a strong predictor for selecting VATS as the initial treatment, while imaging findings did not significantly influence intervention choices.
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4
Patients undergoing primary VATS had shorter drainage durations compared to those receiving chest-tube drainage, indicating a potential treatment advantage.
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5
The study highlights the need for standardized management algorithms that integrate clinical, laboratory, and imaging data for pediatric empyema.
