Patient with a lung abscess, primarily treated with drainage followed by antibiotics
Heddema, E.R.; Teengs, J.P.; Kunst, P.W.A.
Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde 146(2): 77-79
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-2162 PMID: 11820062 Document Number: 546706
A 45-year-old woman presented herself with coughing, nocturnal sweating, weight loss, and chest pain, left laterally. In the previous 5 months she had been treated twice with antibiotics due to a suspected pneumonia. With the help of a CT scan, 2 subpleural lung abscesses were diagnosed. The primary treatment was CT-guided drainage, as a result of which the largest abscess was emptied and a microbiological diagnosis could be established. Subsequently, the patient made a quick recovery with the help of specific antibiotics. It might be better to drain lung abscesses, especially subpleural ones, at an early stage rather than wait for the results of a trial treatment with antibiotics.